Faith and Blood
by Redwolfvirus
Summary: A young cat's path has been controlled by StarClan for so long. Now she is sent on a journey to create a new Clan. Along the way she meets cats who desire her help and knowledge. It will take faith and blood to get these cats through the oncoming storm. Will peace reign, or will it be reaped?
1. Chapter 1

**This fanfic was originally a complete work of about 26 chapters I'd had on a different account. It was my first fanfic I'd ever written and completed, and probably my longest. xD I'm redoing it now and submitting chapters when I can, after I've rewritten them. Sometimes I might go back through an already-submitted chapter and fix it is well so there's always some kind of update.**

**(special thanks to my friend Siri for encouraging me to keep rewriting this fic to make it better than before :D)**

**I will put the allegiances on my profile and inform readers when they are updated.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy! c:**

* * *

Chapter 1

A full moon loomed over a large forest, lighting up the darkened expanse. The wind blew from the north, sending chills to the creatures that were out. One such creature stepped out from the bushes that shield her from the cold night air.

The moon's light revealed the creature to be a young she-cat, with unusual black and white patterned fur and strange red eyes that shone eerily in the dark. Still somewhat sleepy, the cat carefully glanced around at her surroundings. She had decided to rest that afternoon in some bushes until the moon rose, she would then continue her journey north.

As she walked she sighed and looked up at the moon. Only a few days ago she had been happily spending her days with ThunderClan; hunting, patrolling, and telling stories of her journeys and old life. But their time together could only last so long. She had been sent to help the Clan find peace with themselves and others. That was her mission given to her by their warrior ancestors, known as StarClan.

But now her job was done, and they would not remember her thanks to the berries that she had given them. Every Clan cat living by the lake would not recall her ever being there, but they would remember her teachings, hopefully, to live by. She wished that she could have stayed; she rather liked living in the clan. But StarClan had given their answer when she had asked to stay. She remembered that night with great sorrow.

Lightly, she shook her head, not wanting to go into one of her states of sadness she went through, when the thoughts of her forgotten friends hit her mind. StarClan had made her promise that she would never go back, though they never explained why, stating that it was important that she left rather than stay. Never did the she-cat really understand StarClan's ways, though she had to trust them and what they had planned for her.

She was still young, and yet she had so much to live up to, to become something remarkably brilliant, in the ancestors' eyes. A lot she had given up to them trusting their guidance from day one, and yet she still had doubts…

"_Do not fear, young Rainbowheart, for you shall become everything we've hoped for and more, once the new Clan has come into existence….."_

The she-cat's ears pricked at the ghostly and eerie voice that seemed to have come on the wind, to tickle her ear fur. The voice was familiar, belonging to an older StarClan cat she knew very well, and once again, she was brought to thinking back to that dreaded night of leaving. Subconsciously, her paws carried her to a narrow river. Since that night she had gotten no more nightly visitations from the cats, which she hoped meant that she was on the right path.

Her task given to her by StarClan was to create a new Clan which she would mold herself. However, she had great doubts, as well as little faith that StarClan was giving her this task simply as a reward as they had told her- it just wasn't that simple. Sure, she had been excited at first, but now, she had little faith in the dead cats who had woven her path without her consent.

Sighing she bent down to take a drink, noticing three twinkling stars reflecting in the water, as if on cue reminding her of her mission. She stared up at them, eyes hard. "It will all be over soon... It better be," she muttered under her breath.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was now high in the sky as Rainbowheart continued on her trek up north. She had hoped to find a place to rest soon, deciding a long time ago to travel more by starlight, letting the stars guide her and enjoying their company. Though she had seen a few twoleg houses, there were no cats in sight, so she hadn't had any "real" company since leaving ThunderClan. She had longed for conversation, anything that would keep her spirits and sanity intact since she hadn't heard from StarClan in a while.

The black-and-white she-cat sighed, bored, as she quietly walked on through the tranquil forest. That's when she heard it, a painful screech echoing through the trees. Rainbowheart stopped, listened, and opened her mouth. Then the screech sounded again, and the smell of blood wafted over her. Without hesitating she quickly ran in the direction of the screech. It was definitely a cat in trouble that much she could tell.

"Help!" a voice yelled out. Rainbowheart ran faster getting closer to the sound. As she got closer another sound could be heard. It was a growling noise accompanied by snapping jaws. The sound was familiar, and as she broke out of the brush into a small clearing she knew why. A fight was ensuing in front of her. On one side was a large fox, and on the other were two she-cats, desperately trying to defend two young kits.

One of the cats, a pure white with green eyes, looked pretty beat up. She had a big gash across her shoulder and blood was dripping down from her chest. Rainbowheart didn't think she could last much longer. The other cat, a black cat with a large white streak down her left side and green eyes, kept looking from the fox to the bleeding cat beside her. She had a freshly torn ear and some scratches on her flanks.

They looked like they needed help, and in the warrior's mind, she had to actually think about it all. There were times when it was good of someone to help, and with this situation involving young kits, there was no other option but to help. Without thinking it over a second time, Rainbowheart ran out to stand beside the two cats.

The red-eyed warrior looked straight at the fox, fur on end and hissed furiously at it. Then without looking at the confused cats beside her she addressed them, "Hurry, get those kits out of here. I'll hold this fleabag off." She continued to hiss at the red beast, getting angry growls in return.

The two cats looked at each other, not sure what to do. That's when the fox made a dash at them, the red beast growling loudly. As fast as she could, Rainbowheart jumped on the fox's back, claws unsheathed, and clamped on, trying to get the fox to move away from the other cats.

The fox shook furiously trying to shake Rainbowheart off, and tried to stretch its head back to grab her. Rainbowheart kept her grip on the angry creature never letting go, though her body was indeed ready to give out.

Rainbowheart looked up for a quick second to see that the cats had begun to leave. The white she-cat was quickly herding the two kits into the bushes and she too soon disappeared. The only cat left was the black one who was looking from the bushes to the two battling animals. "Just go, hurry!" Rainbowheart yelled at the unsure cat furiously.

There was a look of uncertainty come over the black she-cat's features, until she soon went to disappearing after the others.

Now that they were out of danger, Rainbowheart could knock the fox's head around a bit. Maybe take off for a tree to hide up in. That's when pain shot through her foreleg and she was dragged down from her perch on top of the fox's back. It seemed that while she was making sure the cats left safely, the fox had been able to stretch back far enough to grab her. It threw her down on the ground with a harsh thump.

Rainbowheart looked up at the fox which was rearing up on its hind legs. Desperately, she tried to stand up, but was only able to stumble a little bit away before the fox brought itself down to try and crush its opponent. Luckily she had moved just enough that the fox missed, but she wasn't so sure it would miss next time, especially with her small body having been worn out.

This time the fox stepped down on Rainbowheart's side, making it hard for her to move. She urgently thrashed about, lashing her claws out, sadly missing their target. The fox seemed to laugh as it opened its jaws, which carried a rank smell that made Rainbowheart's nose curl. The young cat closed her eyes, waiting for her end to come, hoping it to be swift. She was going to die before she could complete her mission.

Just then a screech sounded, and Rainbowheart felt the weight of the huge fox lift off of her. She waited a moment to catch her breath, huffing several times, her chest expanding and falling, before opening her eyes. Certainly a surprise awaited her unusual red gaze as there in front of her, fighting and dodging the fox, was the black she-cat. It appeared that the young warrior on the ground, had a savior.

Rainbowheart was frozen with surprise, until the cat turned to look at her with a burning green gaze. "Well, are you going to just lie there all day, or are you going to help me fight this flea-bitten mange-pelt?" the cat called gruffly, taking a few swipes at the fox, which had run forward at her. The cat nimbly leaped to the side, letting the fox run past her, and this time raking her claws on its back leg.

Rainbowheart nodded, and stood up shaking around her foreleg to get it working. Once she was sure it worked, she ran toward the fox with her claws unsheathed. As soon as she got close enough she rolled underneath and took a swipe at the fox's underbelly, receiving a sharp howl. The blow had to have been a direct hit. She could see blood dripping from the wound.

The fox staggered a bit, but wasn't given time to recover before the black she-cat swiped at its muzzle, drawing more blood. With that, the fox had had enough, and slowly backed up before turning tail and running off into the forest. After the fox had disappeared the two exhausted cats that had fought bravely looked at each other and nodded. Only the black she-cat gave a look of gleeful content, with Rainbowheart giving her one of neutrality.

Still, Rainbowheart was the first to speak. "Thanks for coming back to help me before I got turned into crow-food." She then sat down and was about to bow her head, though seeing as she wasn't in the presence of a Clan cat, it wasn't worth her time doing. "My name's Rainbowheart," she stated, swiping her tongue over her paw and running it across her right ear.

The black she-cat also sat down before she spoke. "My name's Streak, and it's me that should be thanking you. If you hadn't come along, my sister, her kits, and I would have been done for."

"It was my pleasure. Helping others is… something of a hobby for me," Rainbowheart exclaimed, though there was a slight irritation in her tone when she stated the last part. As if getting her mind off of the irritation though, she then remembered something. "Hey, your sister is badly injured isn't she?" This was only a guess, as she remembered the white cat's wounds before she had vanished.

Streak's eyes had widened when the strange she-cat had brought attention to this, and the black cat shot up on her paws to run off in the direction that she had come from. Quickly Rainbowheart dashed off to follow the cat, keeping up with her, though with slight difficulty. Trees zoomed by them, and the occasional squirrel or bird scurried out of their way.

It wasn't too long until the young warrior came to a stop right behind Streak, and once again she was panting from exhaustion. Red eyes glancing about, Rainbowheart noticed that they had stopped at the edge of a much larger clearing, and stood in front of a burrow that had a smell that reminded Rainbowheart of the ThunderClan nursery. Just at the thought of ThunderClan sent the bitter taste of longing through her, though she quickly shook it off, paying attention now to the noises coming from inside.

"Mommy, please get up."

Frantic squealing could be heard coming from within the burrow. Streak ran in, Rainbowheart close behind, until they reached a roomy opening inside the burrow. The burrow itself seemed abnormally spacey. It could easily fit at least five more cats. In front of the two cats the beautiful white queen lay before them breathing heavily, with the two kits trying to get her up.

Seeing the fallen cat, Streak ran up to her sister and bent close to her, licking her wounds, willing the bleeding to stop. She was frantic, hoping that this was all merely a terrible nightmare and that it wasn't really happening.

Rainbowheart could tell the queen was in serious trouble and nothing that the black she-cat was doing could possibly help. If nothing better was done, she would die. Pity for the white cat easily spread throughout her, noticing the confused kits in the burrow with them.

"Please Jade, you have to be strong," Streak was pleading to her sister, willing her to get better, "What will your kits do without you?" Rainbowheart could hear the tears that were on the verge of streaming down the devastated cat's face. It was a long-shot, but without anymore thought she knew exactly what needed to be done right now.

Rainbowheart walked up to the injured cat and looked her over, noting all of the cuts and gashes, then turned to Streak, who had looked up with tears coming down from her eyes. "Are there any cobwebs around here, we're going to need to stop the bleeding," her voice was calm, and her eyes held a deep worry that could be conveyed to Streak, in the hope that the other cat would calm.

It took Streak a few seconds to register the question, the she-cat taking a few deep breaths before stuttering out her answer. "Um, I-I think there's some near the front of the burrow. Can you help her? Please you just have to save her!" Never would this she-cat have asked anyone for help so urgently, though right now, she was asking this stranger that had saved them, exactly for that.

"Yes, I think I can, but you need to do as I say. And you must remain calm." Rainbowheart turned her attention to the kits, who were too busy trying to comfort their bleeding mother. "Those kits need reassuring, and the best way to do that is to stay strong, and show them that their mother will be alright. Now, go fetch those cobwebs, as much as you can." She was now facing Streak, a hard gaze directed at the black cat. "And hurry."

Throughout this whole thing, Rainbowheart was calm. It was in these cats' best interest she be calm, and because she had interfered in that fight, they were her responsibility for now.

Without hesitation Streak took off for the burrow entrance, and Rainbowheart's attention was once more placed on her new patient and the mewling kits.

"Alright now, can you both tell me your names, while we wait on Streak? I have to know your names if you're going to help." She looked at the kits, which had stopped fussing over their mother, and were now looking at her.

"My name is Topaz," squeaked the fluffy little golden tom with blue eyes.

"And I'm Sparrow," exclaimed the short-furred black she-kit with white spotted fur, and yellow eyes. Then she piped in, "Is mommy going to be ok?"

"We don't want her to die," cried her brother, and soon both were whining. It was only after Rainbowheart sighed deeply, and began to shush them, that they finally quieted down.

The next thing she said, was either going to be a lie, or the truth, but there was no telling which it would be, until fate could determine it. "Your mother will be fine, but you both need to calm down. Now I need you to help me so that she can get better, ok?" It pricked her mind that if the cat died, she would be at fault for leading the kits to believe a false-hope, but they both nodded to her words and perked up at the thought of helping with their bleeding mother. It would be hard to work with kits crying, so this was good.

By this time Streak was bounding back with a paw completely covered in cobwebs. "W-will this be enough?" she asked, short of breath. It shouldn't have been that hard to find the webs, but along the way back she had accidentally destroyed some of the catch, and had to hurry back and get more.

Nodding in approval of the thing of web, Rainbowheart looked back to the kits. "I want you two to help her clean up your mother's wounds," she addressed them before giving attention to Streak.

"Place some cobweb on her wounds to soak up the blood, then replace them when they get dirty and leave those ones on. By the time I get back, the bleeding should have stopped by a lot." She turned to walk back out of the burrow, but was stopped by Streak who had a bit of panic in her fleeting green eyes.

"Wait, where are you going? I need your help. What if she dies, what if-"

Rainbowheart touched her tail to Streak's shoulder to get her to quiet down. "Don't worry, I'll be right back. I promise." This was a truth that the she-cat spoke, and this was all that was needed for Streak to nod and pad back over to her sister's side to dress her wounds. With one more cat discouraged from their former panicky state, Rainbowheart walked off to find some herbs, hoping she _could_ find some.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take Rainbowheart long to find a few herbs, but remembering what they were for was a bit harder. Luckily though, she was able to recognize poppy seeds and dock, which would help a lot for the particular situation they were needed for. Once she'd picked a decently sized amount, she began her way back to the tree with the burrow. It was along the way back, that she spotted some dried leaves, which had her making note to go back for them later.

Whenever she had helped Mintheart as an apprentice, he had given her a few lessons on the different herbs, for emergency purposes of course. She remembered that dried leaves could help stop infection, which were of a great need in this case, given the wounds that the injured she-cat had been dealt. Later though, Rainbowheart would go back. First things first…

* * *

Just as she had guessed, by the time Rainbowheart got back the bleeding in Jade's shoulder and chest had stopped significantly, and her wounds were dressed with some of the cobwebs that Streak had brought. Streak and the kits were now sitting around the white cat, cleaning Jade's fur. Upon the sounds of pawsteps, they looked up to see their helper's arrival back.

"How is she?" Rainbowheart asked as she slowly padded over to her patient and placed the herbs on the ground.

"The bleeding has stopped more, but she doesn't seem any better than that. I've been trying to keep her awake until you came back." A moment's look directed at Rainbowheart was filled with uncertainty, before Streak turned her head slightly so that her gaze was elsewhere, slightly hardened. "Forgive my doubtfulness, but I wasn't sure you would come back."

Rainbowheart could just barely catch that last part.

Though there was plenty reason to have just left these cats to themselves, there was also plenty of reason to stay if only or a while to help. Rainbowheart didn't bother to question the other cat's reasons for doubting, as it was definitely hard to trust a stranger. She didn't know these cats and they didn't know her, and despite the fact that she had fought alongside Streak, they were not friends.

This aside, Rainbowheart was still a young and curious cat, and wondered if there were other answers to Streak's statement. She drove the curiosity to the back of her mind, as she began to work on getting Jade's wounds mended.

There must have been a sense of the warrior's curiosity, or maybe it was just something Streak wanted to get off her mind. Whatever the case, the black she-cat addressed the doubt she had. "We haven't had much luck with others keeping promises." It was a simple statement, but it was enough said.

Streak looked up to stare at Rainbowheart, a grateful expression on her face, green eyes bright. "Thank you for coming to help us."

Rainbowheart spit the chewed poultice on a couple of leaves. "Don't think anything of it. I'm sure you would have done the same thing if I had been in your position. Here." Rainbowheart placed one of the leaves in front of Streak. "Place the sticky side on her wound and rub it around. You take her shoulder and I'll take the cut on her chest." It wasn't time for idle talk now, but a time for working diligently.

Both cats removed the cobwebs from Jade's shoulder and began rubbing the chewed dock around the cuts. The occasional hiss of pain from the white cat could be heard, as they treated her wounds. Once done, they set aside the used up leaves and Rainbowheart asked Streak to bring her a couple of poppy seeds from the pile of herbs, telling her to use her paw and not her mouth to carry them, lest she swallow some and be out for a bit.

Jade wasn't breathing as hard as she was in the beginning, though it was still a bit irregular; she would need to sleep off the pain if she was to get better. That is where the poppy seeds would come into play for the finishing touch of the day. As was instructed, Streak set a couple of poppy seeds down at Rainbowheart's feet, shaking them slightly and easily off of her own paw.

Rainbowheart nodded in acknowledgement, before she leaned down to the white she-cat on the ground, addressing her in a low and comforting and caring voice. "Jade how do you feel, any better?"

Green eyes blinked open slightly, and Jade took a steady breath before speaking, "Y-yes, a little better, but it still hurts." There was a wince when she tried to move, until a black and white paw pressed her back down, red eyes staring at her and telling her not to move anymore.

The red-eyed warrior nodded at the response, taking note that at least the cat could feel pain, because it would be bad if she couldn't. "Yes, that gash on your chest was deep. You should be better soon though, and to do that I'll need you to eat a couple of these seeds."

Jade turned her head to look at the seeds that Rainbowheart had pushed in front of her. "What will they do?" Though a bit disoriented, the she-cat was eyeing the seeds cautiously.

"Nothing terribly bad, they will just make it so that it's easier for you to sleep."

The injured cat widened her eyes a bit. "No I can't go to sleep," came an urgent reply. She weakly pushed the seeds away with her nose.

Rainbowheart pushed them back insistently, just the slightest bit irritated, though there was sincere pity that the cat seemed scared of sleeping. "You must eat them if you are to get better. You need the rest."

Jade shook her head, or at least tried to with her bit of strength. "Please don't make me eat them. What if I don't wake up? My kits, my sister, what will they do without me to help protect them?" She looked at Rainbowheart pleadingly, willing her to agree.

"Don't worry, I promise that you will wake up. But you may not if you don't get the rest now, rather than later," Rainbowheart said sternly, eyeing her with a hard gaze.

Jade looked at her sister hoping that she would agree with her view of the situation. Of course when she glimpsed her, the black she-cat looked back at her with a pleading look that said she did not.

"Please, eat the seeds," Streak pleaded with her sister, not truly sure if they really would help, but anything was better than letting her sister suffer through pain any longer.

Defeated by a vote of two to one, Jade sighed, eyes back on the tiny things of herbs. "Alright…" And she began to lap up the seeds. They hit her tongue, then went down her throat, eventually she began to nod off, the pain starting to ebb away. She glanced up to look at Rainbowheart once more, giving her a grateful smile, before she fell asleep.

Once Jade was asleep, she began to breath close to normally, and the fear of her getting any worse momentarily was gone. She would be fine after getting regular treatment. Rainbowheart ordered- not told- Streak to get some sleep, seeing as the cat would be fretting over her sister's condition, which could get her sick, and Rainbowheart didn't feel like treating two sick cats with only kits to help her. That really wasn't the best thing to have happen.

Rainbowheart promised Streak that she would stay there with them for a while more and take care of Jade. This thankfully got the fidgeting cat to go to sleep quicker. The black she-cat had scooted the kits to an area of the burrow that had a poorly made up moss bed.

Soon all three of them were asleep, and Rainbowheart chose that time to go out and collect more herbs, and some better bedding.

* * *

That night, Streak woke up to the sound of shuffling around the burrow. She carefully inched her eyes open, poised to defend the kits, expecting to see a badger or fox. No large and dangerous form was seen however, instead she saw Rainbowheart, tediously making sure Jade's wounds stayed clean. The way the cat's form moved around gave hint to her being tired, and Streak guessed that she hadn't gotten much sleep.

_She's taking her time to help us when she could have ditched us for dead. Why….? _Streak thought. It was during her trailed off thinking, that her jaws parted in a wide yawn, evident that she was still quite not ready to fully wake. Streak eventually found herself drifting back off to sleep and all was quiet, save for Rainbowheart trying to make sure that the cat's sister remained alive.

* * *

Unlike the others, it had taken a while for Rainbowheart to settle down and get some sleep. Her mind had been on other things while she had been re-dressing Jade's wounds once more. More or less, her mind was on what was to happen after she was done here.

She was certain that StarClan would want her to continue traveling further north, though she hadn't a sign from them in a while. A sigh escaped her, and she briefly wondered if StarClan had left her already. Maybe she had messed up somehow?

Whatever the deal was, it would have to be mulled over later, for the many hours of staying awake with little sleep were taking their toll on her. It was evident in her drooping red eyes and wobbling stance. She parted her jaws and yawned, and once she was sure that Jade was fine and she would need no more medical attention for a couple of hours, she curled up into a ball and began to close her eyes.

As she fell asleep she prayed that StarClan would visit her, and confirm that she would still be on the right path after this was over. Then again, she also secretly prayed that they wouldn't show up….

When Rainbowheart opened her eyes she expected it to be daytime, which was the only reason she would have woken up. Instead however, she was greeted by the familiar star-lit hunting grounds of StarClan. It was easy to tell where she was, just by the heavenly scenery. Only when she felt eyes boring into her, did she finally turn to acknowledge the bright ginger she-cat that was there to greet her, standing a few fox-lengths away.

It was like a second nature to her, to pad over and greet the she-cat with a dip of the head. "Foxflower," she mewed, only a light smile gracing her features. It was probably the only genuine smile she would give to any StarClan.

Foxflower, as she was called, gave a small laugh, "Oh, as polite as ever aren't we. Too bad Mintheart can't more like you."

Rainbowheart lifted up her head and gave her fur an embarrassing lick. "It's good to see you too Foxflower. How is Mintheart by the way, still as prickly as ever?" She chuckled at the last part; Mintheart was like an elder in a young cat's body. Prickly as a pine cone, though Rainbowheart had managed to tolerate the tom. She had been a bit prickly herself at times.

The old she-cat seemed to roll her eyes before commenting, "Eh, he's gotten better."

"Are badgers flying already then?" Rainbowheart joked, her red eyes glittering, before she sighed and just sat there looking at the other cat.

Foxflower smiled, but didn't say anything. It was clear that she had other things on her mind, and Rainbowheart could sense that the old medicine cat was there for other things besides that of idle talk.

"So," Rainbowheart began, "what brings you here to this neck of the woods?" Her black and white head swiveled to the left and right, gesturing to the empty grounds which obviously were not used by StarClan cats, as it was obviously farther away from the lake. Her eyes spoke that she knew the other cat was not here without reason.

At the question, the smile on the ginger's face disappeared. "I'm here to check up on you is all." Her paws shifted slightly, giving Rainbowheart a clue to the fact that she was lying, or not telling her everything. The old cat did not elaborate further to anything though. "I'm also here to congratulate you with the way you treated that she-cat." Her amber eyes blinked, not going any further than that.

Both she-cats were laying on their stomachs now, and although Rainbowheart wished that the other cat would tell her what was really up, she let it slide. "I didn't know how hard it was for medicine cats until now. No wonder Mintheart was always so grumpy… no wonder you're almost always grumpy."

Pretending to ignore the grimace and glare that Foxflower sent her, she went on, "How do medicine cats do it?"

A shrug was the other feline's response. "It's just something that one is born to do. It takes interest, skill, and a true love for your clan; just like being a warrior."

Foxflower placed a paw on top of Rainbowheart's. "I must say though, that you did quite well for a warrior. If I didn't know you, I would have thought that you were a seasoned medicine cat."

This made Rainbowheart gleam with pride, thought she couldn't help feel like Foxflower stretched the truth a bit.

"I'm sure Mintheart would be proud; Maplepelt and Razorstar too. The way you fought that fox off, you'd be having your warrior ceremony again," Foxflower chuckled.

It had always been hard to believe that someone actually could acknowledge her achievements, however coming from Foxflower, Rainbowheart could take the compliment easily without too much doubt. "Thanks, Foxflower….. You know I think you have gotten softer." The black and white she-cat smirked, getting a paw to the side of her face. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to knock her over, with the ginger cat above her donning an innocent look.

"I'm sorry, what did you say now?" the old medicine cat asked, a teasing expression on her face.

The young warrior grunted as she sat up, flicking her ears, and tilting her head. "Ok, ok. Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Rainbowheart asked finally, scoffing when Foxflower gave her an incredulous look. "I'm not mouse-brained. Something is up, or you wouldn't be here."

Moments passed on in silence, the medicine cat mulling things over in her mind before she spoke. "I'm here to give you a message that concerns the future." Her amber orbs narrowed, "You will have to make a great many decisions soon, young one, which will shape your future as well as the future of others." The she-cat sighed, her head dropping downwards, "I really hate being the bringer of bad news…"

Immediately, the young warrior sat up. "What do you mean bad news?"

All of a sudden the trees around them disappeared, and they were left in darkness. Rainbowheart looked around them then back at Foxflower, who looked like she was frozen in place. The old she-cat's form was beginning to fade, and Rainbowheart knew immediately what was happening, though she prayed it wasn't-

"Beware the blood that falls before the storm," Foxflower hissed before she disappeared into the blackness.


	4. Chapter 4

When Rainbowheart woke up, she could see sunlight seeping through the burrow entrance. Looking around her, she noticed that Streak and the kits were huddled together in a corner. The sight of the three kin together brought a bit of sadness to her, though also a light happiness.

_At least the kits have someone to look after them while their mother is getting better…. I'm sure Streak is still tired from yesterday. I should have probably treated her wounds too though._ Just now realizing this, the cat hissed to herself for being a scatter brain and not thinking to also treat- the black she-cat.

The memory of last night's chat with Foxflower then hit her thoughts. _Great, now I have to keep an eye out for anything pertaining to what the old flea-pelt said_, she thought to herself silently. She thought she was supposed to be making a new Clan, not play I Spy and watch out for what was going to probably end up attacking her and anyone near her.

Rainbowheart's attention was averted from her thoughts at the sudden stirring of Streak. Seeing that she was beginning to wake, Rainbowheart got up and stretched, padding over to Jade who was still sleeping soundly. She looked at the pile of herbs next to the injured cat and took note there were very few left. Sorting through them, the thought to restock crossed her mind.

The black form of Streak soon joined Rainbowheart, the she-cat yawning off sleep that was clearly still there in abundance. "How is she doing?" There was definite worry in her tone. Streak may have almost lost her sister, so she was right to be worried.

The warrior looked over at Streak, flicking her black ear. "Don't worry, I know it may not seem like it, but she'll be just fine now and with more treatment, she should be up and walking around in a couple of days." She thought that this news would make Streak happy, but she could see that something was troubling the young cat.

"It's just that, we were supposed to meet up with some more cats… Friends if you could call them that, though they're more like acquaintances. They're going to be worried about where we are…" Streak shifted her eyes to the burrow entrance, before looking at the other she-cat once more. "I'm sorry, I must be sounding like I'm complaining but… how long will we have to stay around here before my sister gets better?"

Rainbowheart just touched her tail to the black she-cat's shoulder, eyes sparking with curiosity as to what had the cat really wanting to leave so soon. "I'm sorry, but it will take a couple more days before she's good to walk longer distances. If she tried to walk now, then she might collapse from exhaustion or her wound would open up." Informing the cat on these facts, she soon began to redress Jade's wounds.

Out of the corner of her sight, she saw Streak give another worried glance to the exit, and wondered maybe if the cat was thinking that the fox from yesterday might return. "Streak, how about letting me treat your wounds?" Rainbowheart asked this, mainly to get the cat to stop fidgeting but also because she couldn't have another cat to take care of, bleeding into old moss.

"And then I'd like some help cleaning the moss out around your sister; it's not good to keep her on bedding that's riddled with dried blood. After that, you can help me catch us something to eat." All of these things she asked of Streak were essential to them all right now, and it looked as if none of them had had a good meal in a while.

The black cat had completely forgotten about her own injuries, and just now seemed to take notice to the marks on her body that stung. There was no real complaining from Streak about having her wounds seen to, though she was unsure about the command to help with hunting. Sitting there in place, she let Rainbowheart tend to her wounds, letting out an occasional hiss from the stinging of the herbs.

It was while the Rainbowheart finished up, that Streak silently thought to herself how useful herbs could be. She never imagined that such simple things as plants could be used to save someone from the verge of death. In her mind, she made a note to herself to ask about them later, for future purposes on the run with her kin.

After treating Streak's wounds, Rainbowheart did a quick check-up on the kits. "Hmm… you both seem fine. Do you feel funny, or hurt anywhere?" She ran a paw over Sparrow's fur, and scented for any dried up cuts.

The little white-spotted she-kit shook her head, "Nope, mama made sure that we were safe and didn't get hurt."

"Like any good mother would," Rainbowheart replied to the kit and then moved on to Topaz, going over his fur as well. Briefly out of the corner of her eye, Rainbowheart thought that she saw Streak's face sadden for some reason.

"Did your mom protect you when you were a kit?"

The golden tom's question caught Rainbowheart guard.

"Um… well, sort of," she answered, unsure of how to reply. She gave his fur a sniff, searching for any signs of cuts.

"What do you mean? She took care of you didn't she?" Topaz persisted, his blue eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Rainbowheart backed away, head tilted down and eyes gazing at the wall. Memories of kithood flooded to her; some good, a lot bad. "My mother loved me, but she didn't understand me. Sometimes, I wish she had…" she muttered sadly.

Topaz flattened his ears, sensing the older cat's mood, "I'm sorry for asking."

Rainbowheart touched Topaz with her tail, "It's alright. You learn things by asking questions, and it's always good to ask them."

"So can you tell us where you came from?" Sparrow piped up.

"Or what you're doing here?" Topaz questioned, shoving Sparrow aside.

"Were you scared when you fought that fox?"

"What's the biggest thing you've ever fought?"

"Your name is funny, why do you have it?"

An onslaught of questions came at Rainbowheart, and she began to wonder if telling the kits that questions were good, was an intelligent idea.

Streak sighed, rolling her eyes and ushering the kits away with her tail. "Come on you two, I think Rainbowheart has had enough questions for now. How about helping us with changing your mom's bedding?"

The kits brightened up. "Okay!" They ran over to where Jade was resting, and began to pull away the moss that she wasn't laying on.

Streak shook her head, "Kits can be quite overbearing at times."

Rainbowheart nodded in agreement, "It does make you remember that once we were kits too though." She stretched out, suddenly padding away. "Come on, while they're doing that, we can gather some more moss. I found a good patch of some last night while you all were asleep."

Without a word, Streak followed soundlessly, save for the padding of her paws on the ground. She kept pace with her new companion, as they made their way to a large rock. Looking closely, she could see that there was nice soft moss, growing at the base. Seeing Rainbowheart grab some, she also picked a mouthful, and they then both headed back.

When they got back inside of the burrow, both she-cats were surprised to see Jade was awake. The white queen was lying up, with the kits squealing with delight around her. She noticed the two cats that had just come in, and turned to greet them with a flick of her ears.

Streak had quickly padded all the way over to her sister and rubbed her head against hers in pure joy.

Rainbowheart sat down, noting Jade's positive condition, "You seem to be doing well. How are you feeling in general?" She could see that the white cat was breathing heavily; most likely Jade's wounds that she received still hurt. She placed her moss with Streak's, and padded over to her little supply of herbs.

Jade turned her attention back to the black-and-white cat, "I am doing much better, thanks to you. I am eternally grateful for your help. I am sorry that there is nothing that we can do to return the favor of saving us yesterday."

Rainbowheart chewed up a poultice, and placed it on a leaf. "There is no need for that. I'm making Streak hunt with me later so that we can all be fed." She gently placed the leaf onto the gash on Jade's chest. Jade hissed from the stinging, but Rainbowheart didn't let up, knowing that the herbs were helping with keeping her wounds from getting infected.

"Well we could use a good meal. The skies above know we haven't had any food in a while." Jade's voice seemed a bit weary, and she looked exhausted again. Her injuries were definitely getting the best of her, along with the possible lack of nutrition.

Rainbowheart took the leaf away from Jade's chest, and placed it to the side. "You should probably get some more rest while we go hunting." She looked over to the kits who were arguing over the new moss for the bedding. "If you can get any rest that is..."

Jade purred with humor in her voice, "I've rested enough for now. You just do what you need to do."

* * *

The burrow was cleaned with ease, with both Rainbowheart and Streak on the job. Jade's bedding was replaced, and all manner of used herbs and filthy moss were deposited outside of the burrow. With that done, it was now time to hunt.

From where they were, Rainbowheart realized the burrow wasn't very well-hidden and worry crept into her head. "We should probably cover up the entrance, so nothing tries to get inside while we're away." She padded over to some torn up brush. It looked like something had decided to take its anger out a bush.

_Maybe it was that fox yesterday._ The thought came to Rainbowheart, but whatever had done it, it had left a large amount of dismembered brush pieces. She looked around, until she saw a big enough piece to cover the burrow.

"That looks like it'll do. Streak, come over here and help me." Rainbowheart picked up one side, clamping her jaws down on several small branches. When Streak picked up the other side, both she-cats began leading the broken brush into the burrow, only stopping when it was wedged in enough, and looked natural. A few more bits of brush were placed in front, just in case; it paid to be careful.

Streak looked on in pride at their work, "It doesn't even look it was a burrow."

"That's good; nothing will think twice that it could possibly be our den." Rainbowheart looked up at the sky. It was sun-high right now. "Come on, we should start hunting." She walked off into the forest with her companion trailing behind her.

* * *

Hidden among the bushes, three pairs of eyes watched Rainbowheart and Streak pad away from the hidden burrow. Curiosity pricked at the minds of the felines who had stumbled upon the scene. Caution was also present, but they all recognized at least one of the two cats who had walked off.

Each of the spying cats gave the other a look before, in silent agreement, they decided to follow the she-cats.

They would be as quiet as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

It didn't take Rainbowheart and Streak long to find some prey. Both had stumbled upon a good sized squirrel, which wasn't surprising, considering that it was still green-leaf.

Quickly, it became clear to Rainbowheart that Streak had little experience with hunting live prey. As soon as both got into position, she noticed how sloppy Streak's hunting crouch was. And as soon as the black cat had moved forward the squirrel had heard her and ran up a nearby tree.

"Rats!" hissed Streak. The cat gazed up at the tree, tail flicking in irritation before stalking off to search around for more prey.

Left behind, Rainbowheart pondered about the cat. She had expected her companion to be a bit novice at hunting, but not like this. Then again, Rainbowheart was already decent at hunting and had probably expected more from Streak. From what she could see, Streak and her kin had been eating, but that could have been a good few days ago, and they may have been getting handouts from twolegs.

Of course now they wouldn't be able to get any food from twolegs, being out in the forest. It was then that Rainbowheart decided to make it a priority to teach these cats how to fend for themselves in the wild.

"Hey, Rainbowheart."

Rainbowheart looked up to see Streak, who had just realized her companion had come back.

"Come on, I found a flock of birds up here."

Streak turned to head in the direction she had come from, but Rainbowheart had called out to stop her. "Hold up Streak."

* * *

They didn't have enough time to do a real training exercise, since there were other hungry mouths to feed back at the burrow. So Rainbowheart gave Streak a basic hunting move to try out. Once she had memorized it, both headed to where Streak had said she found the birds.

It was a decent flock of birds, probably about eight or ten in all. Both cats got into position. Rainbowheart ordered Streak to stay, while she went all the way around to the opposite side. This was hunting technique that Rainbowheart had learned on her fifth day with ThunderClan, when a large flock of blackbirds had stupidly decided to eat in the clearing.

As soon as Rainbowheart was in position, she signaled to Streak with her tail. She could see the she-cat nod at her that she was ready. Within seconds, both cats launched themselves at the birds, which started to scatter in alarm. They didn't know what hit them. The hunters had come from different directions, ensuring that there would be casualties.

A couple of swipes later, there were three juicy looking sparrows in a nice pile. Streak swiped her tongue over her jaws, eyeing the food like a starving fox.

Rainbowheart poked her with a paw, getting her attention. "We can eat after we're done. Let's bury these somewhere close by for now."

Streak looked a little sad at the fact that she would have to wait to eat, but complied, realizing that it would be better to eat with everyone. She picked up a bird and followed Rainbowheart, who had the other two.

After burying the fresh-kill, they went on to scout around for more food. Looking around, they were finally able to come across another squirrel. It looked good; plump and juicy. The little rodent was nibbling on an acorn, unaware that it was being stalked.

Rainbowheart nudged Streak, who turned to look at her. Using her tail, she pointed to the tree nearest to the squirrel. Understanding, Streak quietly stalked over toward the tree and crouched down in position.

Once Streak moved, Rainbowheart began to creep forward some more, careful of her footing. She froze when the squirrel stopped chewing on its acorn. Knowing it would run, she jumped from the cover of the bushes, chasing it to where Streak was hiding.

Before it could run up the tree, Streak was on top of the prey. She quickly bit its neck, causing it to be still.

Rainbowheart walked up to Streak proudly, touching the other cat's shoulder with her tail. "You're a quick learner. Where I come from, you'd be a warrior in no time."

"Warrior?" Streak perked her ears up at the comment.

There was no answer to the simple question, Rainbowheart just shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's go get the rest of the fresh-kill." Rainbowheart walked off leaving Streak to pick up the squirrel and drown in her curiosity.

Both cats had located where they had buried their prey in no time, and were now padding back to their burrow-den. Streak had her jaws clamped down on her bird and squirrel, while Rainbowheart was carrying the other two birds. This would be enough for all of them hopefully.

* * *

"Did you see that?"

"It wasn't anything special. All they did was kill small game."

"The funny looking one looks like she knows what she's doing. Maybe..." A pair of amber eyes belonging to a large cat, blinked, gazing after Rainbowheart and Streak. "Just maybe..."

"_Maybe_ we should get back to the others," stated the less-impressed of the chatting cats.

"No, we'll keep following them. Come on you two." The large cat took off, with its two companions trailing behind.

* * *

The pair of she-cats dropped their prey to the side when they got to the hidden entrance of the den, and began to dismember the camouflage.

"This really worked; how did you ever think of it?" Streak asked, curious, as she picked up her prey again, and headed inside.

"Oh, you know… I've been around." That was all Rainbowheart could really say, or wanted to say at least. Really, she would love to share her tales of living with the clans, or her extensive travels to get there, but she didn't know if anyone would really want to listen.

As both she-cats reached the end of the small tunnel, squeals could be heard. Rainbowheart could already see Topaz and Sparrow play fighting inside of the burrow. When both kits heard who had come back, they immediately stopped and ran straight for Rainbowheart and Streak.

"Yum food," squeaked Sparrow, who was sniffing at the squirrel that was in Streak's mouth.

"Wow you got a squirrel. How'd you catch one," Topaz asked wide eyed. "You must be an awesome hunter to get one."

Placing the birds down, Rainbowheart leaned in towards the tiny tom, "Actually Streak caught it; I just ran it toward her."

Topaz looked at Streak now, excited that his kin had caught a squirrel. "Wow, really Streak? That's so cool."

Streak couldn't really talk, so she nodded and began to pad toward Jade who was still resting in her nest. The white cat had opened her eyes and smiled upon seeing her sister. "Wow, you actually caught something. I never thought I'd see the day," Jade chuckled jokingly. She still looked the same as when they had left; tired.

Streak looked at her worriedly, but still managed a smile. "Well you don't have to be that surprised." She licked her sister's head lovingly, and padded to put the prey in a pile, in the center of their den.

Rainbowheart turned to the kits. "Would you two put these birds in the pile with Streak's, while I check on your mother? Don't start eating until we're done, ok?"

Both kits nodded and, each grabbing a bird went to sit by their aunt.

"How are you doing; any better since we left?" Rainbowheart directed the question towards Jade as she moved towards her. She used what was left of her herbs, rubbing a poultice on both of Jade's wounds again.

"I do feel somewhat better, but I still feel a bit exhausted." Jade lifted her head up some, letting Rainbowheart get the gash on her chest.

Rainbowheart got a good look at the wound. It didn't look infected, most likely due to the treatment. "Well it's probably the fact that you haven't eaten in a while. We brought back plenty of prey. Eat that, and you'll be right as rain."

"Thank you, um… I'm sorry; I never caught your name before."

"Well I can see how that could have slipped past you." Rainbowheart was now placing the last of the cobwebs on Jade's wounds. "My name is Rainbowheart."

Jade looked at her curiously, "Rainbowheart… that's quite a weird name." She suddenly looked at Rainbowheart with an apologetic expression, "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean anything by it."

"No harm done. It's just a name," the black-and-white cat put a paw on Jade's shoulder. "Come, let's eat with the others." She saw Jade look over to where Streak and the kits were waiting. "You're going to have to move around if you want to get better," she told her patient seriously, but with a less hard gaze.

Jade looked back at Rainbowheart, and then at the others. Breathing in, and then out, calmly, she began to stand up. Her legs wobbled from disuse, and would have given out on her first try. She found that there was a black-and-white pelt pressing up against her, supporting her. Grateful for the help, she began padding over with Rainbowheart, to the prey pile.

Rainbowheart had heard Streak telling the kits a story, during the time it took to get Jade over to them. Though she hadn't been paying attention before, she was able to catch the last part about how Rainbowheart planned out how to catch the birds and squirrel.

Both kits were sitting, appearing amazed at the tale. Topaz spoke up, "That's so cool. I wish I could learn how to do that." Both kits then noticed that Rainbowheart and Jade had made it over to them.

"Rainbowheart could you teach me how to hunt?" Sparrow asked zealously.

"No, I want her to teach me," argued Topaz.

"I asked first," Sparrow jumped on Topaz, wrestling him to the ground. Jade was about to say something when Rainbowheart interrupted their little tussle.

"Now now, don't fight. I am capable of teaching the both of you, but you have to behave if you want to learn." Both kits stopped, looked at each other, and then looked back at Rainbowheart.

"Ok we'll be good," said Topaz.

"Yeah we won't fight," said Sparrow, then after some thought, "Except when it's playtime."

Rainbowheart nodded, a small purr escaping her, "Alright, but you have to ask your mother first."

They all turned to Jade, who nodded after a little thought. Better her kits learn to fend for themselves now while the opportunity was here. "As long as you two don't give Rainbowheart trouble, then it's ok."

Both kits squealed in joy.

Rainbowheart chuckled, "How about we eat now? I'm sure we're all starving."

* * *

As they ate, Rainbowheart could sense that Streak had something on her mind. She wanted to ask what it was, but decided to let the black cat mull whatever was on her mind over a bit, and she continued eating. The warrior hadn't had squirrel in a while, so she intended to enjoy it.

After they had all finished their meal, both Streak, and Rainbowheart took the scraps of the meal outside and buried them.

Finally, as soon as they got back inside, Streak voiced what was on her mind. "Hey, Rainbowheart," both sat down and watched the kits wrestling with each other. Jade was in her nest once again, but was just sitting, on orders of Rainbowheart.

"Yes?" Rainbowheart questioned, taking her eyes off of the battling kits.

Streak hesitated for a bit, "Well, I was wondering… about what you said today. Something about where you came from and being a warrior, and your name is… quite odd."

Rainbowheart twitched her ear at the question but didn't answer immediately; she just stared at the kits that were now playing with a bird feather.

"Yes it is, isn't it," Rainbowheart thought out loud.

"I'm just curious," Streak explained, dragging a paw through the dirt. "You just seem to know a lot for yourself." The black cat tilted her head, "What's your story?"

"Well I cannot tell you my whole life's story, but I can share a small portion of it. I mean, if you really want to know?" Rainbowheart turned to see what Streak's reaction would be.

Streak gave her a curious gaze, before answering. "Well, from where I stand, we've got nothing else to do. It'll help pass the time."

Rainbowheart touched her tail to Streak's side. "It would be nice to fill the gap while we relax for a bit."

"Alright kits, how about a story while we digest our food," Streak announced, and the kits stopped tumbling and rolling about.

"Yay a story! What kind of story is it?" Topaz was looking excitedly at Streak, who directed her attention to Rainbowheart.

"It's not a long story, but I think that you'll like it." Rainbowheart padded over to sit across from Jade. The kits and Streak had followed, deciding to sit next to Jade. The white she-cat enveloped her kits in her tail, calming them down.

All eyes and ears were now on Rainbowheart, anxious to hear what she would tell them. She took a moment to quietly decide on how to start the story. Rainbowheart then cleared her throat before she spoke. "Where I come from..."


	6. Chapter 6

Rainbowheart began to tell a bit of Clan life, something she only lived for a while. It was a rewarding while. She gave descriptions of each of the Clans; the heroic ThunderClan, the sneaky ShadowClan, the graceful RiverClan, and the swift WindClan.

She remembered something about a fifth Clan near the end of her telling, but she skipped over it. It was just something she'd heard from an elder. Or was it a StarClan cat? She couldn't quite recall, but it didn't seem important if she'd never actually seen it.

"So you live with other cats in a Clan?" Topaz tilted his golden head curiously.

"Heh, I used to. Not anymore," Rainbowheart admitted with a sigh. Oh how she wished she could go back to ThunderClan.

"Why don't you? Did they chase you off?" Sparrow jumped to her tiny paws, eyes in a glare. Almost as if she would pounce on anyone who was mean to the cat who saved her family's life.

"Actually..." Rainbowheart stopped before she could go on. How could she explain that a group of dead cats made everyone forget her? It was quite absurd to say."Umm…"

"Now kits, if she doesn't wish to share, we don't pry."

Sparrow flattened her ears when her mother chastised her. "Yes mama."

"You said there were leaders. Was the leader of your clan strong?" Topaz questioned.

Rainbowheart found herself beginning to get more comfortable with telling these cats things. She was quite happy they all seemed to enjoy the information she was sharing. Her red gaze fell on the darkening entrance to outside, though. She could tell it was getting late.

Unlike the kits, Jade picked up on Rainbowheart's silence. "I think that's enough for now. Come on kits, it's time for some shut eye after that wonderful meal and story. If Rainbowheart has more to say, then she can say it in the morning."

"Awww," the kits whined as Jade herded them closer to her belly fur. Her tail wrapped securely around them, encouraging them to not struggle and go to sleep. At first they glared up at her, but after a few hesitant yawns, they obliged.

Rainbowheart couldn't help but yawn herself. "Jade's right. I'll tell you kits some more tomorrow, I promise." She stretched, tail flicking. "Right now though, sleep."

A few more yawns came from little, golden-furred Topaz, "Ok. Night everyone."

"If you feel any pains in the night Jade, please don't hesitate to wake me up."

Jade gave Rainbowheart a reassuring nod, "I will thank you. Get some sleep now; you've been working so hard." The white she-cat then laid her head down on her paws. A few moments later, she was asleep.

Rainbowheart sighed, then noticed that Streak was absent from her side. Looking around, she noticed the black cat was already settling down in her nest. She looked just as tired as Rainbowheart felt, and was shifting her moss bedding around to fit her satisfaction.

Rainbowheart didn't hesitate; she padded over silently to her own nest, and began to move her bedding around. The moss seemed softer than ever before at this point, and she stopped moving around. Flopping on her side, she closed her eyes. "Good night Streak," she whispered.

"Good night Rainbowheart," was her answer.

* * *

Shadows moved across the outside of the burrow.

"Did you hear that, there are big groups of cats that know how to fight."

"May-maybe they can help us."

"Hmm, maybe, but we don't know where they are. Come on, let's go, we'll come back tomorrow."

* * *

The next day started out just as the previous, except this time, Jade was looking much healthier. It seemed that the food had done her some good, as she could now walk around with less of a problem. She would have to stay in the den with the kits however, while Rainbowheart and Streak went out hunting.

So much was done in this one day, and was easier than before, especially with the extra paws helping out. After the morning meal had been caught, it was thought best to find more herbs, and collect more moss. Water was not a problem, for there was a small pool near the very back, though it could run out soon.

When it had begun to drizzle outside, the cats decided to stay inside until it stopped. They used the time to change the bedding, and make a couple more comfortable nests. Rainbowheart used a space in the back, near the now filling up pool of water, to store her herbs. By the time everyone was done, it had stopped raining, and Rainbowheart and Streak took the opportunity to go out hunting again.

When both cats came back, they greeted their companions with a juicy rabbit and two squirrels. Rainbowheart had taken the time to teach Streak some more on hunting, and the rewards were great for all of them. It turned out that Streak had a natural body-build for catching faster prey.

The kits could hardly believe it when they saw the long-eared prey being dragged inside of the den. They had never seen a rabbit, and didn't hold back with their squeals of excitement-induced questions and praises.

And after they were all done eating, as promised, Rainbowheart began where she had left off from her very informative story. Each of the two kits took up space on each of the warrior's flanks, insisting on sitting as close as possible to not miss any details.

"Now, you were asking about my leader?" Rainbowheart directed at Topaz.

"Yeah, was your leader strong? Leaders have to be strong, right?"

"The leader of the clan is supposed to be the wisest and most understanding. They put their clan before themselves just as regular warriors do." Rainbowheart paused. "But yes, my leader was strong."

"If they're the leader, do they have the other cats do everything for them?" squeaked Sparrow.

Rainbowheart touched the kit's head with her tail. "Well, a true leader thinks of others before themselves, and isn't it better to sacrifice a life of nine, then a life of one?"

"Life of nine?" Streak tilted her head.

Rainbowheart hissed to herself. She never was that great with telling things in order. "I'm skipping over things, sorry. I think I should start at the beginning. When a kit is old enough they become an apprentice. The apprentice will be given to a warrior to train. Eventually the apprentice becomes a warrior, and they get an apprentice and the cycle repeats."

"Sometimes though, if the warrior is strong enough, they become deputy. The deputy is second to the leader, and when the leader dies, the deputy becomes leader and a new deputy is chosen. The leader is then given nine lives by..." The red-eyed cat trailed off.

"By who?" Topaz pawed at Rainbowheart's side.

Rainbowheart didn't answer however. The she-cat stood up rather quickly, claws unsheathed and her hardened voice directed at the entrance. "I know you're out there. Whoever you are, we are trained and capable of dealing with you if you attack."

The threat was a bluff- they could not deal with many foes if it was just Rainbowheart and Streak. The black-and-white cat had been picking up a strange scent since yesterday. It was only now she realized it was other cats, and they were close to the den.

Confusion was plastered all over Streak and the others' faces. They had been ignorant to any presence outside, but now they could hear movement near the entrance. The kits had been moved over to Jade, and now Streak was standing beside Rainbowheart in a defensive stance.

Voices outside of the den argued.

"I told you it was a bad idea to get so close," a voice said.

"Whatever. It's too late now. Besides, like Buck said, the weird one may be able to help," a second voice said.

"What if she works for Bloo-" said the first voice.

"You're such a mouse-brain. Streak and Jade are here." The second voice cut off the first.

"Both of you stop fighting and come on. Let's go introduce ourselves," said a third more gruff voice.

Eventually shapes could be seen moving outside, almost blocking out the dimmed sunlight. Three cats came walking down the tunnel and stood in front of the residents of the burrow.

There were two toms and a she-cat.

The largest tom was dark brown. He had his bottom teeth sticking up out of his bottom jaw. His amber eyes shone with bravery and challenge towards Rainbowheart. He must have been the third voice.

The other tom was a red-brown tabby with green eyes. He had a nervous air about him. His tail seemed to twitch nonstop, and his eyes kept on darting around.

The she-cat had a fluffy ashy grey pelt with a black spiral on her left foreleg. Like the large tom, her yellow eyes met Rainbowheart's with fearlessness.

"Buck!"

The sudden exclamation that came from Streak, made Rainbowheart jump slightly. The warrior looked to her companion and saw that the she-cat's claws were no longer out. It looked as if the black cat had let her guard down in the presence of familiar company.

"You know them?" Rainbowheart questioned, hesitantly sheathing her claws and flattening her fur. If the others weren't being cautious...

"We were supposed to meet up with them the day we were attacked by that fox." The green-eyed she-cat seemed to be ecstatic that these strange cats were here.

"When we didn't hear from you, we came to search for you. It's good to know _they_ didn't get you," the large tom spoke, relief in his voice.

"There's enough time later to explain what happened with you four. _You,_" the grey she-cat turned to Rainbowheart. She looked the warrior up and down, eyes steely as she spoke. "You're going to help us. And we're not taking 'no' for an answer."

* * *

**Damn demanding cats and their demanding-ness**

**That's all of the chapters for today. I'm still working on redoing the rest, but shall have a chapter or two finished soon to upload ;D**

**PEACE! (or chaos, whichever you prefer I dun give a damn xD)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Woot woot! Chapter 7 is here bishes!**

**Thank you for those who had read this far for taking the time to begin reading this fanfic. It's much appreciated :D**

**ON TO THE STORY! }:O**

* * *

"There's enough time later to explain what happened with you four. _You,_" the grey she-cat turned to Rainbowheart. She looked the warrior up and down, eyes steely as she spoke. "You're going to help us. And we're not taking 'no' for an answer."

Rainbowheart seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden command from this cat whom she didn't even know. "_Excuse_ me?" Her fur fluffed out.

"Meera, that's not how we planned to ask." The large brown tom hissed to the grey she-cat. His gaze was disapproving, and mildly irritated.

"It was to-the-point, and I don't grovel for help." The grey cat flicked her tail, turning her head to stare at a dirt wall.

"Forget what she said," the tom stated, addressing Rainbowheart with an apologetic look. "Introductions first. My name is Buck, this is my brother Apple," he gestured with his tail to the red tabby, "and this flea-pelt is my sister Meera."

When he pointed to the grey cat, she hissed at him. "_Adopted_ siblings, you dog face ."

"Don't mind her attitude, she fell off of a fence this morning." Buck ignored Meera, simply dipping his head to Rainbowheart. "I'm sorry we've intruded on your den."

"You've also been following us around like stalkers I believe," Rainbowheart noted.

"That too." Buck shrugged.

"Why, is what I want to know. You knew Streak, so you didn't need to sneak around," Rainbowheart pointed out.

Buck seemed to consider the warrior's words. "We had to be sure."

Curiosity pricked at Rainbowheart's mind. She allowed Buck to continue.

"We have been searching for so long, trying to find the one to help us. When we went searching for Streak and Jade, we came across you, a cat with blood red eyes and a set of skills-"

"We need you to teach us how to fight," Meera said, cutting off Buck, to get to the point.

The large tom gave her a disdainful glare, but proceeded on. "Yes, we were wondering if you might teach us how to fight, is what I was leading to; I mean really fight. You see at first we were thinking of going to these so-called clan cats that you spoke of-"

"But then we learned that you yourself were a clan cat, and knew how to already fight." As she spoke, Meera didn't acknowledge the sore Buck, who lashed out his tail.

Rainbowheart thought carefully before she spoke. "Yes I am a former clan cat, but maybe you should explain to me more, the situation you are in. I can't just teach anyone how to fight, without knowing what they will be using it for."

Buck nodded, understanding, "Of course, but perhaps it would be better if everyone else were here." He turned to Apple, who nodded at him curtly and then ran out of the tunnel.

"Everyone?" Streak was now sitting beside Rainbowheart. "That's a lot of cats, Buck. I thought we were all leaving together, not fighting." She looked distressed, and the same look could be found behind her on Jade's face as well.

Rainbowheart gave Streak a questioning gaze. "Okay, what exactly is going on around here?" Obviously Streak and Jade knew what was going on too, so the warrior was in the dark.

"All will be explained after the others arrive. Don't get your fur in a twist Patchy," said Meera who was now lying down on all fours. She looked a bit exhausted along with Buck. Rainbowheart could only wonder what exactly was wrong, and it ate at her mind like a starving dog.

At the comment about her fur pattern, Rainbowheart fluffed up. She was about to comment back, but had caught the cheeky look Meera sent her. Instead, the black-and-white feline stalked over to look over Jade once more. There was no need to acknowledge the insult.

It didn't stop her from cursing the stranger in her mind.

* * *

A little bit later, after Rainbowheart had checked Jade's wounds, noises could be heard outside. She looked at Buck and Meera who were now up and heading for the exit. Streak, who'd been chatting with Buck, was now on her paws but didn't follow right away.

Sensing hesitancy, Buck looked over his shoulder at Rainbowheart and the others. "Follow us warrior, and everything will be explained. Then you'll see that you have to help us."

When the two cats disappeared outside into the early night, Rainbowheart gazed at Jade and Streak who just shrugged their shoulders. Sighing, Rainbowheart motioned for them to follow her. _I hope that this will not take too long._

Rainbowheart could hear many voices outside, and was amazed when she and the others were finally outside. There were enough cats here to be counted as a clan in itself. The clearing that was next to the burrow was filled up with what looked to be a mix of kittypets, loners, and rogues.

When all five of them were in view, the cats had stopped conversing with each other and were now looking at them. Rainbowheart felt a little uncomfortable with their stares and was reminded of her first time at the gathering. She could hear the whisperings of the cats that time too; she knew it was her eyes that they were talking about. It seemed though, that these cats were also whispering something else to each other too, but she couldn't catch it before Buck stepped in.

"Friends and acquaintances, it has been a hard life these past moons, especially with 'him' and his followers. I promised you that I would find a solution, and today I have brought that. I have found someone who has the capability of fighting; someone who can teach us to fight and take back our home." Buck motioned to Rainbowheart, who took a step small step forward.

"I have heard tales from this young cat; tales of others who live in the wild and fight for survival. She is one of those cats, and from what my friend Streak has told me, she has even driven off a fox. I believe that with her help we will be able to fight back against Bloodstorm and his Peace Reapers."

Rainbowheart had been listening impatiently, waiting to be informed on what was happening, when Buck had said that name.

_Bloodstorm._

The warrior could hear Foxflower's voice as clear as if she were here herself. In fact, she might have been.

_Beware the blood that falls before the storm._ Rainbowheart shook her head, and hissed over at Buck, who turned to look at her questioningly.

"Excuse me Buck, but I think I should be filled in on what the heck is going on. Who's Bloodstorm, and who are these Peace Reapers?" Rainbowheart looked around at the cats that were in the clearing. She noticed that some seemed battle-worn, even the kittypets. That didn't seem right.

All stared at her and a few shifted in place not really wanting to be the one to speak.

Buck was taken aback by Rainbowheart's tone, but he shook it off, motioning for a cat in the crowd to step forward. A she-cat that was in the back of the crowd padded forward to sit in the middle of the clearing. She had a pretty blue-grey pelt with a white face and paws, and weirdly enough her right eye was yellow and the other was blue.

Buck leaned toward Rainbowheart's ear, "That's one of the local loners called Star. She's a peculiar one, but she has great wisdom of much."

"And who is this enemy?" Rainbowheart questioned aloud.

Star cleared her throat, "The enemy is Bloodstorm, a ruthless cat with purple eyes. He leads a group of cats that he calls his Peace Reapers. Their sole purpose it seems is to rule over the entire twolegplace here. We are attacked constantly each day and scared to the point of not even being able to leave our homes. Even those that live with the twolegs are attacked and many have had to stay inside and no longer come out."

"We are threatened into giving them food and are on the verge of starving to death if nothing is done. Many of us have been injured and are weak. We are tired of doing as they say, and want to put a stop to it."

Star stopped and looked intensely at Rainbowheart, "From what we've just been told, it has been concluded you are a warrior; a fighter. Is this true, can you fight? Can you teach us how to fight?"

Everyone's eyes were on Rainbowheart now, pleading and judging. Now she knew what a leader felt like when making decisions. She looked at Buck, Apple, and Meera, who were next to her and her two friends.

Meera looked judgingly at Rainbowheart, "Well, Patchy? You are the first cat we've met in ages to pass through here that is promising to us, with fighting experience. Are you going to teach us or not?"

Rainbowheart didn't really know what to say. She was only supposed to be staying around and helping Streak and her kin. Foxflower's warning kept crossing her thoughts. It seemed like the warning had been to the point, and that she had to beware of this Bloodstorm cat. Would she really risk sticking around?

"Is she going to help us get our home back mama?"

The voice of a kit. It certainly wasn't one of Jade's. Rainbowheart flicked an ear at the sounds, but didn't look.

"I don't know dear," came the hushed response of a queen.

"I wanna go home."

"I know, I know."

That just wasn't playing fair. Rainbowheart dug her claws into the dirt beneath her paws. She could feel Buck's eyes boring into her pelt. The tom must have known. He must have known that she'd been won over just from a kit's cry for home.

"Alright... I'll do it," she stated, a bad feeling stinging her gut.

At those words, the group of cats started to yowl and cheer. Rainbowheart could see the relieved and happy expressions of the cats, but that still didn't get rid of the growing sense of dread she felt.

* * *

**Maybe the dread is that prey she ate earlier. Gotta be giving her gas or something... (or it's Buck's gaze that might be creeping everyone out damn it Buck you can stop looking now)**

**C: Next chapter will be done soon. Tootles my dearies!**


	8. Chapter 8

Rainbowheart had sent everyone away, informing Buck to have everyone meet in the clearing tomorrow. "I would like to begin as soon as possible, and I'm sure they would too."

Buck nodded, "We are grateful that you have chosen to help us. I'm sorry we might have had to push you, but we are in a desperate situation. In any case, you are free to leave, I won't hold anything against you."

The tom turned to look in the direction where the twolegplace was, "But I don't know how the others would take it. Though, I cannot say how many will actually choose to train. Many of them expected you to already have a number of cats behind you to help us."

Rainbowheart nodded solemnly, sending Buck an accusing stare, "I could see why they may have thought that." She flicked an ear, following the tom's gaze to twolegplace. "From what I have seen, not too many of them look to be in any condition to learn how to fight. Not without a good meal at least. To answer your statement though, no I shall not leave." Rainbowheart looked up at the sky. "I've got nothing to left to lose if I help anyway."

She turned to Buck, who seemed a bit confused. "You should be going too, right?"

Buck nodded, and dipped his head in gratitude. "Uh, thank you again. I shall gather all those who are willing to defend themselves, and bring them here tomorrow when the sun is high." He got up to leave, and almost reached the bushes, when he turned back to her. "Heh, maybe you would also be willing to share some of your stories with us? The others might like that."

Rainbowheart flicked an ear, "Since you all can't eavesdrop anymore?" When the tom gave his fur an embarrassed lick, she gave a humored purr. "Until tomorrow."

Buck nodded then left.

* * *

It was only minutes after the clearing was once again empty, that everyone got ready for bed.

Well, everyone that is, except for Rainbowheart, who had stayed outside to stare at the moon and stars. Streak, noticing the cat's weird mood, trailed back out of the burrow and sat beside her.

They both sat in silence for a while, focused on the gorgeous night sky.

Finally Streak broke the silence, "I heard what Buck said. You don't have to do this if you don't want to you know."

Rainbowheart nodded, but kept her eyes on the stars, "I already agreed to do it. It's just I had this… this dream from..." She gazed at Streak now, but then put her head down. "Nevermind, it's stupid."

"It can't be that stupid if it's something that's bothering you." Streak's words were calm, coaxing Rainbowheart to spill whatever was on her mind.

"I... Well it's hard to explain," the warrior admitted. "At least, in few words."

"We have time." Streak touched her tail to the other cat's shoulder.

* * *

So Rainbowheart explained as best she could; about StarClan and her dream. It wasn't surprising that Streak was just sitting there with a confused expression. The warrior didn't blame her for finding this all ridiculous.

After she finished speaking, she awaited Streak's response.

The black cat turned away from Rainbowheart. "That's quite something."

"I knew you'd think it was stupid." Rainbowheart flopped on her stomach onto the ground.

"Whether I think it's stupid or not, doesn't change the fact that you have a bad feeling about helping those cats." The black cat touched her pelt to Rainbowheart's. "Buck and the others are my friends, but if you have a bad feeling, maybe you should leave." When the warrior stayed silent, she went on. "You've helped us enough." She purred when Rainbowheart turned quickly to stare at her with question. "That's what you were mulling over, right?"

Streak sighed, "I owe you for saving my sister's life. The least I can do is tell you to do what you think you should."

"I've been on a long journey for my whole life, and it always seems that I'm never anywhere near the end of it." Rainbowheart huffed, "It never lasts long, when I settle in one area than seems like home. I make friends, but I always have to leave them in the end." She blinked at Streak, "Never once, has anyone told me to do what I want to do though."

It seemed that in that moment, Rainbowheart had finally heard what she'd wanted to hear for so long. In the end though, it still didn't change the fact that she would help those cats. The she-cat stood up. "Thank you, Streak. You're a good... um..."

"You can call me a friend." Streak purred in amusement, cuffing the other cat's ear. "Nothing is going to happen to me if you call me one. You're stuck with us for a bit."

"Hey!" Rainbowheart growled, playfully though. She swatted back at Streak, laughing when the other cat ducked away. It was a rare moment. One where she felt like a kit again.

"Anyways," Streak began after calming down, "Where do you plan on going, after all of this is over?" The she-cat was quite interested. She also had another thought on her mind. "Because... Well I was thinking, you don't have to be separated from your friends."

"What are you saying?" Rainbowheart tilted her head, curious.

"I'm saying, how about me, Jade, and the kits all go with you when you leave?"

"... This isn't a pity thing is it?" The warrior blinked, slouching where she stood.

Streak rolled her eyes and huffed, "No! Just think about it. If we all stuck together, we could form our own clan." The black she-cat beamed with pride at her suggestion. She thought it was a brilliant idea. "You can be the leader, and the rest of us could be warriors and nobody could run us off because we'd have our own territory. It's a great idea right?" Hopeful green eyes blinked at the other she-cat.

"I mean... Yeah it is a good idea..." Rainbowheart couldn't help but feel like this wasn't just a coincidence. It was like it was supposed to happen. She felt like there were now invisible eyes burning into her. StarClan. They had promised her journey would be over once she made this new clan. She would have peace, friends, family, and she wouldn't have to leave any of it. Was this them delivering to her what she needed to start?

"Yoo-hoo, Streak to Rainbowheart. You listening?"

Blinking her red eyes, the she-cat paid Streak her attention. "Sorry, what?"

"I said, we could be called RainbowClan. You said that the other clans were named after cats, so your clan should be named after you, right?" Apparently Streak was just going with what she was saying. The she-cat hadn't actually taken the time to see what the other cat would say. Ironic, considering her earlier sit-and-listen episode.

"Yeah RainbowClan!"

Rainbowheart hadn't had a chance to respond before a mass of fur hit her from behind. Above her, Topaz and Sparrow were pouncing around, squealing in delight. "Shouldn't you two be asleep?" Rainbowheart groaned, as she lifted herself off of the dirt.

"Shouldn't you?" Sparrow said back cheekily, playfully swiping at Rainbowheart's tail as it flicked back and forth. The black kit was so into her little game that she didn't notice her brother had snuck up behind her. She cried out, when the golden kit collided into her, sending them both down.

"Ah! Topaz that isn't funny!"

Jade, who had accompanied the kits outside, finally made herself known. "I'm sorry, but they were a bit too curious about what you two were talking about." She padded closer to the other cats. Her expression was unreadable. "I heard what Streak said."

"You did?" Streak seemed a little unsure as to what her sister might say about her suggestion. Considering the black cat had made the decision without consulting her sister.

"And what do you think?" Rainbowheart wanted to hear everyone's opinion. It was decided she'd refrain from saying anything about StarClan and her task. She didn't want anyone's decisions to be in her favor just because of something like that. Whether other cats believed her about StarClan or not.

Jade was pondering, looking for the right choice of words. "I do not mind the idea to form a clan. It would be nice to be someplace that has friendlier cats than the ones in twolegplace. I'd rather not take my chances to stick around here, if Buck's plan fails. My kits don't need to be casualties just because of his need to be a hero."

Rainbowheart turned away Jade's green gaze, "Those three cats do seem like the type who'd risk everything to get something they want back, despite it being a lost cause." All Rainbowheart needed to do though was teach them and some others how to fight. She didn't need to get involved any further.

"Look, it doesn't matter if we become a clan or not. All we need is a safe place with safe company. And you need someone around who won't need to be left behind." Jade touched her tail to Rainbowheart's side, and smiled like a mother would. "Wherever you go, we will follow. I owe you my life, and you owe my kits hunting lessons," the queen purred humoredly.

"Please say yes. We want to be apprentices," Sparrow piped, staring at Rainbowheart with wide yellow eyes.

"So we can be warriors," Topaz finished for his sister.

The warrior sighed, kneading the dirt with her claws, "Alright then, since I have the unfair advantage of two kits against me, it looks like we'll be making a clan." How could anyone say no to a couple of wide-eyed kits? Twice in a row, kits won that night.

"Yay!" The kits began bouncing around joyously. When weren't these kits bouncing around though? "Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!"

Topaz suddenly stopped in his tracks as he realized something, "So can you make us apprentices now?"

"Yeah, we want to be apprentices," demanded Sparrow, the white-spotted kit was obviously trying to not jump out of her fur. (too late for not jumping though)

Jade placed a paw on Sparrow's head, "I think that it's time for kits to go to sleep."

"But mama, we-"

"There will be plenty of time for you to be made into apprentices. But Rainbowheart has a big day tomorrow, and I'm sure that she would like to get some rest." The white she-cat rounded the rambunctious kits up, motioning them to move toward the den. "You two too, it's time for bed," she commanded without turning to look at Streak or Rainbowheart.

Both remaining cats watched as the white queen disappeared into the den. "She never takes a break does she?" Rainbowheart said, amazed that Jade could be so bossy suddenly. It was different from when the white cat was just laying on a pile of moss trying to get better.

"Just wait a couple of more days. She'll be fully healed, and we'll never hear the end of her nagging." Streak vanished inside, and Rainbowheart followed her. A good night's rest would do them all some good.

* * *

Rainbowheart shifted in her nest, thoughts of the events of earlier, and of her last encounter with Foxflower, swirled in her mind. She wondered just how bad this Bloodstorm character was, and was debating if it was a good idea to even teach those cats to fight.

She inwardly cursed her thinking. _Just don't get involved any further than what I planned. That's all I need to remember. Then we'll all leave. Streak, Jade, the kits. We'll be out of here in no time..._

_Please StarClan let this peace last._


	9. Chapter 9

**Yozers brozers it's Reddy with another chapter!**

**I'd like to say thank you to Lunarsparks for your nice comments! :"D**

**And thank you to any other readers who I don't know of, I hope you're enjoying the story and I know everyone can't wait to see the bad cats pop up. (just hang in there guys, they're coming xD)**

**On to the story!**

* * *

"Are you sure that this is all of the cats?" Rainbowheart gazed at the group of cats that sat in the clearing. Buck sat beside her, along with Streak and the loner from yesterday, Star. In all honesty, what they stared at wasn't that impressive.

"Yes, though I wish that the number could have been better," Buck replied distastefully. He spoke what was on Rainbowheart's mind.

Streak's expression turned sour, "You'd think some of the big-talking toms would have joined. Just goes to show."

Counting Buck, Apple, Meera, and Star, along with the new cats, there were fourteen cats in all.

"I knew not that many would join, but I thought at least a few more would come along." Buck's gazed flickered over the chatting cats with worry in his amber orbs.

"That bad huh..." Rainbowheart muttered.

Jade had padded out of the den, with the kits right behind her. She sat right next to Buck and the others.

The tom dragged his gaze away from the cats to look at Rainbowheart. "Believe me, it's bad. The Peace Reapers are filled with some of the most horrid fleabags imaginable," he sighed, "and some of the most innocent. Some of them are only with Bloodstorm because they tried to stand up to him, and he liked the fact that they could fight."

"But why would they-"

"Because, he's threatening them," Buck cut the warrior off off, fury filling him up. "The only reason half of those cats are with him, is because they are scared, or Bloodstorm has threatened to kill their loved ones." Buck directed his gaze to the ground in front of him. "If we are to get our home back, then that monster must be stopped." He dug his claws into the dirt.

Jade touched her tail to Buck's side, trying to calm him down. "Buck, calm down." Her voice was soothing, just like a mother's.

A few deep breaths escaped the tom's jaws before he settled. His ears flattened.

"I will do everything I can to help train these cats. Maybe, if the others see how the training can help them, they will also join." There was no response from the big tom, and Rainbowheart suddenly felt pity for him. She could tell that he wanted desperately to save his home; he would not abandon it, or his friends there.

She could relate to that.

"Well... I suppose I should get started." Rainbowheart got up. There was hesitancy in her footing, but she eventually came to stand in front of the new cats. She cleared her throat, signaling to them all that she would be the one to talk. "My name is Rainbowheart, and I'll be teaching you how to fight and defend yourselves."

"Now, if you can, I would like you all to get in a single file line, facing me, shoulder to shoulder, and introduce yourselves." The warrior could see that they all were a bit hesitant. "The sooner this is done, the sooner we can get to what you came here to do."

That cats looked at one another, before doing as was ordered. They all lined up so that Rainbowheart could get a good look at them. She gave each of them a quick look over from where she stood. They seemed like a pretty decent-looking group; the loners looked a tad bit stronger than the kittypets, but all of them were still underfed.

"Ok, so why don't we start with you, there at the end." Rainbowheart pointed her gaze towards a black she-cat at her far left. The first six cats were all kittypets, so she thought that she might as well start with them first.

"My name is Blair," the cat said.

"Um… hi I'm Nutmeg," the next she-cat said quietly.

"I'm Suzie."

"They call me Chilly."

"I am Blue, heh, because of my pelt, not my personality." A blue-grey tom dipped his head to Rainbowheart, chuckling. A calm and collected smile was on his face. He seemed friendly enough.

"I'm Jewel. I look forward to learning from you, and becoming a great a fighter as you must be," spoke the next cat, a ginger she-cat. She was sitting up straight, looking like she was one of the most confident of the group.

The grey tom beside her scoffed, "Ever so formal aren't we softmouth." He had obviously insulted the she-cat without care.

Jewel fluffed out her fur and glared at the tom, "And what's that supposed to mean garbagepelt?"

The tom didn't bother with acknowledging the cat any further, obviously wanting to get a rise out of her. He stared at Rainbowheart and dipped his head. "The name's Hampton. It's a pleasure to be here, learning from such a skilled wild-born cat." He put emphasis on the term wild-born, and shot a look at the kittypets.

_And the fighting begins without the enemy even being here, _Rainbowheart thought with chagrin.

"Come again," Jewel snapped at Hampton. The she-cat looked like she would tackle the cat right now, which would have impressed Rainbowheart if it weren't for the fact that they were here to learn, and not bicker like kits over a moss ball.

"You heard me softmouth!"

It was time for Rainbowheart to intervene, "All right that's enough!" All of the cats looked at her, frozen in place. "You two, since you seem real close, will be partners for training exercises."

Both cats were about to protest, but she gave them a stern gaze. "You are here to learn how to defend yourselves from those cats you're all so scared of, not fight each other. While you are here, you will obey my rules, my terms, or you can go home. I don't need to waste my time on you all."

Jewel and Hampton took a moment to growl at each other, but, in the end stopped. They were indeed here to learn, or they'd be sent home. At the same time they agreed, "Yes Rainbowheart." They both glared at each other, but then turned away.

Rainbowheart's gaze flew across the rest of the cats, "If you want to learn how to fight, then you mustn't fight with your new comrades. It does not matter whether you are kittypet or loner, you shall all learn to work together, so that there is a balance. The cats around you now, will be your new friends, if they aren't already, so get to know them."

Both Jewel and Hampton gazed back at Rainbowheart, and then looked at each other. A form a temporary truce was formed silently between them, and they dipped their heads to one another.

"Good," Rainbowheart stated at the cats' understanding. She gazed at the cat that sat next to Hampton. "How about we continue with introductions," she motioned for the brown tom to speak.

"You can call me Cliff," he said, then dipped his head.

"Brick," the red tom next to Cliff stated.

"Spike."

The last to be introduced, was a small black and white tom. The cat puffed out his fur excitedly, "Hi, my name's Chris."

Rainbowheart looked the cat over more thoroughly, and could tell that he couldn't be more than eight moons old; young enough to be an apprentice.

"Chris, that's an unusual name for a loner as young as yourself," Rainbowheart commented.

The young cat blinked, and then chuckled nervously, "Yeah… well… I didn't exactly like living as a house cat. It was too boring, and I thought that I needed more excitement and adventure. And I couldn't stand that food that they were giving me, no offense to you guys." Chris glanced down at the kittypets.

Jewel was about to make a chastising comment, but then thought better of it.

"None taken, from you at least." She glared at the grey tom beside her.

Chris smiled, thankful that the she-cat didn't snap at him. "It was fun at first, but I guess I never noticed what Bloodstorm was doing. Those fleabags have been taking my food and have been nothing but bullies to my friends. I'm gonna run them all out if it's the last thing I do."

The young tom sat up straight, "I promise that I will work hard to meet your expectations. I want to learn to fight, so that I can protect my friends and home. I want to be strong."

Rainbowheart was impressed with the tom's determination, despite his age. He actually reminded her of a clan apprentice. "Well if you feel up to the challenge, how would you feel about being a part of my first demonstration?"

Chris looked up at the warrior, eyes sparkling, "Really, that'd be awesome!" The young tom seemed to catch his sudden excited outburst, and regained his composure, "Um, I mean, that would be very good. Thank you."

The red-eyed warrior heard a chuckle and a few whispers from the she-cats of how "cute" Chris was. She herself couldn't help but shake her head at them. "Alright then, I think that's everyone." Turning around, she motioned for Streak to suddenly come forward.

The cat obliged, padding forward to stand beside Rainbowheart. When Streak had moved forward, Topaz and Sparrow had followed their aunt. They were now bounding around the two cats, excitedly observing the new arrivals.

"Streak here is going to assist me with your training along with Buck." Rainbowheart shuffled her paws out of the way when the kits suddenly ran by to get a better look at the other cats.

"We're going to train too, right Rainbowheart?" Topaz turned around. He bounded back over to where the warrior and Streak stood, pawing at their feet. "You promised."

"Topaz, Sparrow, you both get back over here right now."

"But mommm." The call of their mother sent the kits slowly padding back to the sidelines, whining.

"She said she'd teach you how to hunt, not fight. Just watch and you can practice whatever she shows them."

"Right now, Chris please, won't you join me." Rainbowheart motioned for the small tom to follow her.

While they padded to stand at one end of the clearing, Streak stayed where she was, in front of a large stump that stood between the forest and the clearing. She was joined by Buck a moment later.

"Ok, so first we'll start off with a little training game." The warrior had thought all that morning on how to approach the situation. What better way to get them in the mood for training than a game? "The goal of this game is for one team to make it past the other team, and get onto the stump." She glanced down at the cat next her, "Think you can handle it?"

Chris, though he was nervous on the inside, nodded confidently, "Just tell when to go."

Rainbowheart admired the young cat's spirit. "Are you both ready down there?"

Streak gave a smirk and got into the position that Rainbowheart had taught her that morning."If you are."

Buck followed Streak's stance, head lowered, shoulders broadened, and ready.

Rainbowheart nodded, and looked down at Chris, "You go for Buck, and I'll take care of Streak. Keep your claws sheathed, and use non lethal blows. Buck is bigger so use your size to dodge."

As Chris processed this information, Rainbowheart gave the command.

"Begin!"

The warrior shot forward, with the young cat just joining her, a few seconds into it. She jumped over Buck, and landed in front of Streak, who immediately took a swipe at her. Rainbowheart easily dodged the attack, and smacked the black cat with a paw. "So," she said casually as she dodged her friend's paws, "how are they doing?"

Streak leaped away from the warrior, and took a quick look over at Buck who was engaged in battle with Chris.

Buck swiped at the young cat, who narrowly dodged all of them.

Chris soon found himself on the ground, after the larger tom tripped him up with quick blows to the legs. When Buck went to jump on him, Chris rolled away, and the bigger cat became stunned by the ground's impact on his legs. At that moment, Chris took the opportunity to knock the tom over.

If only Buck had stayed down. Before Chris could run for the stump, the brown cat had gotten up and thrown his weight on the smaller cat. Chris was now being smushed against the ground, the poor cat.

Streak seemed a little impressed by the young tom at first. Right up until Buck incapacitated him. "Chris was doing good at fir-!" She was stopped, midway in her sentence, after being barreled into by Rainbowheart. The black cat silently cursed herself, having forgotten she was fighting too.

Rainbowheart got up, looking down at her. "Never turn your back on your opponent, no matter how brief." She turned around and signaled for Buck to release Chris. "You Both did a decent job for a first exercise. Chris lost because he was overpowered by a larger opponent, and Buck you had some trouble because Chris was quicker. You'll learn how to handle these situations, though."

Chris seemed embarrassed for his loss, but nodded. Both he and Buck then went and sat with the line of trainees.

"We would like to go now."

Rainbowheart noticed the cat, called Blue, yell out, and he padded forward with Spike right behind him.

Rainbowheart nodded, and then turned to Streak. "You with me?"

"So it's you and me then. Heh, like when we fought that fox," Streak commented, and got into position beside Rainbowheart.

The red-eyed cat matched Streak's stance, and eyed the toms across from them. She could tell that Spike was a little nervous-the tom's spiky tail quivered ever so slightly. Blue however, had confidence in his eyes and stance. "Yeah. Just like the fox," Rainbowheart muttered her command to the cat beside her.

"Remember, everyone, you must get to the stump. Anything counts, but all claws must be sheathed, and keep it light with your teeth. I'd rather not have to use up the herbs around here."

Both toms nodded, and Rainbowheart gave the signal, "Go!"

As soon as she gave the signal, both cats charged at Rainbowheart and Streak. Streak quickly surveyed the situation and noticed that her partner's eyes were trained on Spike. Guessing that Rainbowheart had Spike covered, she decided that she'd take out Blue.

Soon both sets of cats collided in a frenzy of sheathed paws and yowls. Rainbowheart was dodging away from Spike's onslaught, and trying to pin him down. The big tom had the idea, but seemed a little off on his aim, just throwing out swipes that didn't hit.

Streak meanwhile was busy with Blue who was jumping out of her attack range and running right back and hitting her. With his nimble stature and long legs, it was easy for him to dodge the other cat.

Rainbowheart was eventually able to pin Spike down, after using her front paws to trip him up. Looking up she saw that Streak had her paws full with the blue-grey tom who kept jumping away then running back, tiring the black she-cat out easily. _Hmm, he seems to be more experienced that I would have thought or just clever. _

The black-and-white cat's train of thought was lost when Streak ended the bout.

Blue was now pinned to the ground himself, with a triumphant looking Streak on top of him. He struggled to get up, flailing his paws, but it was pointless with the other cat's weight fully on him.

Streak had finally been able to see through his attack, being just as speedy herself. Blue had been jumping away and then attacking, using his lean form to his advantage and tiring out his opponent. So the next time Blue jumped out of the way of Streak's attack, she jumped forward so that she landed on top of him, just as he was about to attack again.

Rainbowheart nodded at Streak, and both cats let their opponents up off the ground. "Good job you two. Go rest now." She motioned over to the group, and the tired and beaten cats walked over and sat down to rest and clean themselves up a bit.

Rainbowheart sat in front of them all. "Now, can anyone tell me what they did wrong?" Most of the others just stared at her, while a few looked at the ground. "Anyone? Come on now, think." She looked from left to right at the cats.

"Um… I think that I... I can answer, but I'm not sure if it's right."

All eyes were on Nutmeg now. The timid cat seemed to be staring at her paws, with eyes barely glancing up.

"Go on, it's alright if you aren't right. Now, what was it that they did wrong?" The warrior-teacher encouraged.

"Well… I think that it was that they attacked without a plan." Nutmeg looked down, and started playing with her paws a little nervously.

"You're correct."

Nutmeg looked up and saw the red eyed she-cat giving her an approving look. Blair and Jewel whispered congratulating words to the fluffy, nervous she-cat.

"Both cats rushed into battle without thinking it through. But that is only one part; can someone else point out the other half?" Rainbowheart asked.

This time it was Spike that spoke, "Well, I guess we could have worked together, instead of separately." The tom seemed embarrassed to be speaking about himself, but tried to ignore the feeling. He didn't like the thought of pointing out his flaw.

Rainbowheart nodded and walked closer the group. "When in a battle, try and converse with your comrades, if not through speech, then by signaling them somehow and reading when they need help or when to attack." She stopped in front of Spike and Blue, "You both did really well on your own, but if you can work as a pair, then you will be more effective when attacking."

"Now," Rainbowheart looked up at Nutmeg and Brick. "You two are up next."

The brown she-cat seemed a little nervous, but Brick and Jewel encouraged her to go.

Rainbowheart grimaced to herself. _Hopefully they can learn quickly and improve together._

* * *

**Don't worry the boring-ness will end soon. c: Some bad guys join the party next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

Most of the battles ended in the same way, with each team barely even close to getting to the target. So far the only team that put up a good fight was Nutmeg and Brick, who had listened, and worked together, but they were still inexperienced in battle form and they too, soon fell. Buck, Meera, Apple, and Star had been promising, to Rainbowheart, but each relied on too much of one thing. They did, however, do better than the other cats, which greatly pleased the warrior.

Soon the clearing was filled with exhausted cats that were now laying down and sharing tongues, something suggested by Rainbowheart while she and a few of the others hunted. It was best that they all got to know each other better, seeing as they would be training together, and what better way to do it than with fresh food and tired cats that would be staying until the day was over.

Really she wanted them to get along because she didn't want to deal with more squabbling.

It was decided that Buck, Meera, and Streak would accompany Rainbowheart on the hunt. Buck had suggested that they go, since Jade needed to keep an eye on the kits, and he and Meera were the only two cats near the area who ever tried to catch anything in the forest. Rainbowheart agreed, since they would need a lot of prey to feed the trainees.

Rainbowheart parted her jaws to scent the air, picking up the smell of bird. She turned to look at Buck, "How good are you at catching birds?"

Buck smirked with pride, "Well it just so happens that birds are our specialty. Just tell us where, and what to do."

Rainbowheart nodded, and told them all to keep quiet and follow her.

Eventually they came across a small group of birds, and Rainbowheart gave them their orders. While Buck and Streak went around to the opposite side, Rainbowheart and Meera stayed where they were.

When everyone was ready, Rainbowheart and Meera ran at the birds, getting them to fly straight into an ambush. Six of the eight birds, had quickly been killed, and all cats were looking triumphant. This wouldn't be enough though; they would need a lot more food.

"Hmm… I think we should split up now. We'll be able to cover more ground."

The others looked at Rainbowheart and nodded.

Streak looked back at their fresh kill, "Let's bury these first though, so we don't have to make more trips back and forth." They all agreed and began burying the birds. After they were done, each of them ran off into a different direction.

When they all met back where they began, each had a piece of prey to offer.

Rainbowheart had been lucky enough to find a good looking rabbit. Buck had miraculously caught a crow, while Meera had two mice. And Streak had a squirrel and another bird to offer to the pile. Overall it had been a more than successful hunt.

The forest's prey was plentiful for now.

"Well I think that this amount of prey should suffice," Rainbowheart commented, amusedly. "We're going to need help though; Streak, would you mind running back and asking a couple of the others to come and help us."

Streak flicked her ear at the request and sprinted off. "Sure thing, be right back."

When Streak came back, Jewel, Star, Apple, and Hampton were right behind her. They all looked wide-eyed at the big pile of prey.

"Whoa, you guys really worked the prey over. I've never seen this much food, even when the twolegs dump out their scraps in the alley," Hampton commented, impressed.

When they all got back to the clearing, everyone was still chattering.

Suzie and Nutmeg were talking to Jade. Casual she-cat gossip most likely.

It seemed that Cliff was busy telling the kits and the others some story about how he and another cat had fought off a dog in an alley.

Everyone turned though, when they caught wind of the food brought back for them.

The hunting party set down the prey in a pile. "Ok, now everyone come up and get some prey. If you have enough to share, then do so please. You all need to get your strength back, so eat up."

Once everyone had some food with them, Rainbowheart asked that they all sit in a circle. All of the kittypets just stared at the food that had been given to them, while the others, who were loners and ate what they could, went on and dug in.

Eventually their hunger and curiosity drove them to try the dead animal. At first they gave looks of uncertainty as they chewed, but then their faces turned to that of wonder, or at least interest at the taste. After getting through the first bite, the kittypets were also enjoying the fresh meal.

With lunch out of the way, everyone began talking again, with loners telling of things they did while they had been traveling, or just kit hood memories. The conversation eventually fell on Rainbowheart.

"So Buck tells us that you come from a place where other cats run wild together and care for themselves. Can you tell us what it's like?" inquired Jewel.

"Well I guess I could, but it could take up the time needed to train for today."

Rainbowheart looked over at Buck who seemed to be the ring leader for these cats to listen to. Based on his earlier fit before training, she would have assumed he'd rather they all train some more.

Buck shrugged his shoulders, speaking as he cleaned himself. "Go on, I'm sure they would like to hear something about you. Besides, Blue needs to head home, and would miss training." He seemed a little irked that the kittypet needed to leave. The time could be filled with something else he guessed.

Blue got up when Buck said this. "Sorry but Buck's right. My twolegs let me in earlier than most. Guess they're worried I'll run off or something."

A few cats purred with amusement at that last comment, considering that he was a really good distance away from the twolegplace.

Everyone bid him goodbye until tomorrow, then he was out of sight.

"So, what is it exactly you all want to hear about?" Rainbowheart questioned.

"You could tell them what you told us the other night," Jade suggested. "You might have skipped around some things."

"Alright, if you really want to hear that stuff again." Rainbowheart flicked an ear, and began again to tell what she'd told the others already. She even added in some stuff she may have forgotten to mention before. It wasn't much of a story, as it was just information. She really didn't think there'd be that much interest really.

By the time she finished talking about and describing things, she had a few of the loners badgering her with questions. They were probably the most impressed ones.

"So what was your mentor's name?" the excited young Chris asked earnestly. The tom was probably the most excited out of everyone. He was young, and was only right to be excited, much like the kits.

"My mentor's name was Razorstar." Rainbowheart informed this with a bit of pride igniting inside her. Who wouldn't be proud having been mentored by a leader? It was under special circumstances, still, but even so it had been fun.

"Did you fight lots of battles?" Hampton asked with a smile. He was obviously really into the whole wild-cat. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. He hadn't really given any acknowledgement to the kittypets, except maybe for Jewel when they bickered.

"Well, there were plenty of border skirmishes between ShadowClan and the clan I was in."

"So what was it like? Living with the clans I mean, not the fighting." Apple drew everyone's attention. He seemed to have stopped shaking for once, and seemed more relaxed, eyes wide with a sliver of wonder.

This question made Rainbowheart stop and think, her odd eyes trained on her paws. "It was great. You're surrounded by others who you've sworn to protect and who will protect you. You work to help each other." She stared up at the other cats. "Uh, that's all I really want to talk about." She really didn't feel like going on to these cats.

"Here comes the sad part guys." The interruption came from Meera, who scoffed when Buck flicked her head with his tail. "What? The mood was getting me down."

"Have you no tact?" the tom hissed.

"I have claws and I'm not afraid to use them," stated sweetly to Buck. She sure knew how to get on her brother's nerves. "Anyways, now that the moment has been ruined, everyone should be getting along." The she cat stood up and stretched.

"She's right, it's getting late and our twolegs will probably worry," Blair said, motioning for the other kittypets. "Thank you for the meal."

"Yeah thank you! See you guys tomorrow." The ginger pelt of Chilly streaked passed everyone, not bothering to wait for the others.

"Hold up Chilly, don't leave us behind," Blair called, groaning. She along with the rest of the cats, loners included, took their leave. Best to get to their homes and not be out after dark.

"We should be going too," Buck stated.

"No, you guys should stay. There's enough room." Jade gave Buck a disappointed expression.

_If they stay they need to help with hunting in the morning, _Rainbowheart thought to herself. She was a tad bitter because of Meera's outburst.

A loud screech in the distance suddenly got everyone's attention Everyone now stopped and listened so they could get a clue where it was coming from. When it sounded again Buck took off towards the twolegplace.

It was a split-second decision, but Rainbowheart found herself bounding after the tom. "The rest of you stay there!" she called back before running out of sight after Buck.

The closer they got to the noise, the clearer they could see the twoleg dens, and the better they could hear the struggle going on.

"Please leave me alone. I didn't do anything wrong!"

They could hear a she-cat voice pleading to someone.

Rainbowheart and Buck eventually came to a halt, and looked through to the other side of some bushes. What they both saw shocked and infuriated them.

A young light brown tabby she-cat was being held down by two other cats that obviously had her outmatched.

"Oh really, if I remember correctly, you were supposed to bring an offering for our leader today, but you weren't there. Because of you we had to skip out on our meal to just find you." One of the cats said with venom in their voice.

"Please, I'm sorry I wasn't there. Next time I'll bring double, I promise." The cat on the cried put in distress again.

Both Rainbowheart and Buck flinched when they heard the poor cat yowl in pain when one of the cats pressed down hard with their claws on her shoulders.

"I wouldn't make promises that can't be kept. This isn't the first time you've held out on us." The cat turned to looked at the cat to the right who had yet to speak, "What do you think we should do with her Quill?"

The cat laughed in a way that made Rainbowheart's pelt crawl.

"I say we teach her a lesson. Maybe a few scars on her pretty pelt will teach her not to disobey our laws. I think I'll start with her ears." The other cat lifted a paw into the air, claws glinting in the fading light.

The cat on the ground braced herself for a beating.

Before the cat's claws could reach their target though, Rainbowheart and Buck ran out and slammed against both of the attackers, knocking them to the ground, breathless and bewildered.

Now that they were closer, Rainbowheart could now distinguish the attacking cats. The cat that had been about to attack had a brown and white pelt and, when she opened them, pale green eyes. The smaller one had spiky dark black fur and clear blue eyes with dark flecks.

When both of the attackers had recovered from the surprise of being knocked over, they stood up, pelt fluffed out, and glared at the newcomers.

"Who dares attack members of the Peace Reap-" The black she-cat stopped and squinted her eyes at Buck and then bared her teeth, "Buck, I always knew you'd be trouble. Come to die now, and look, you even brought a friend. Too bad she'll have to suffer along with you and that pathetic lump of fur over there."

Rainbowheart bared her teeth at them, anger flaring through her body, "If you ask me, you're the ones who are pathetic." She wasn't in the mood to deal with scum.

This got both cats' undivided attention. "What'd you say furball?" spit out the brown and white she-cat.

Rainbowheart smiled through her teeth, "You heard me. What, you always do what your leader says? He sends his lackeys out to pick on weaker cats, while he sits in his nice cozy den. I bet he must be laughing his head off."

Taunt them. Taunting was always good. Or not.

"I'll shove those words right back down your throat," the brown-and-white cat hissed at them, and then jumped at Rainbowheart.

Rainbowheart hissed butjust stepped out of the way.

Before she knew what had happened, the attacking she-cat had landed face first into the ground. When the cat tried to get up, Rainbowheart knocked her back down, pinning her to the ground with full force.

"You want to fight, try fighting someone with skill at least, instead of picking on innocent cats. Now," Rainbowheart dug her claws into the cat's shoulders and was rewarded with a slight hiss, "get out of here, and I better not catch you near this forest again got it?" Rainbowheart slowly let the she-cat up.

As fast as her legs could take her, the she-cat darted back to the twolegplace, running past Buck who had the other cat pinned to the ground, hissing and spitting.

"You can let her go now, Buck."

Buck didn't look up, just kept on pushing his weight down on the cat.

"Buck, let her go!"

Only now did Rainbowheart's voice register to the tom. Loosening his grip, he let the cat up, who ran after her companion, disappearing into the growing night.

Once they saw the attackers run off, Rainbowheart turned to Buck, "You don't have self-control do you?" She didn't get an answer from him. The she-cat sighed, shaking her head and addressed the other issue. "Who were those cats, a part of the Peace Reapers?"

At this, Buck gave a slight nod, "Yes, they were punishers, the cats that do Bloodstorm's dirty work outside of his hideout. They see to it that everyone follows the rules laid out by him too. The two you just met, are a nasty piece of work they are." And he wished he would have been allowed to finish at least one of them off.

"The spiky black one is called Hiss. Cold heart she has. If the leader of the punishers ever dies, she would certainly take his place." Buck shook his head, "I used to think she could be better than the Peace Reapers, she and her brother."

"The other one is called Quill. Insane, she is. She'll do whatever she can to put anyone who crosses her into as much pain as possible, and will never feel anything but pleasure." Buck looked back to where the cats ran to. "It sure was fun to see them run for once with their tails between their legs." His words held a longing to do more than just see them run, however.

Rainbowheart nodded solemnly, not bringing up the fact Buck almost killed one of them. Instead she turned to look at the cat they had just saved and padded over to her quickly. "Are you ok um…"

"Hazel. My name's Hazel, and yes I'm fine, just a few scratches." Hazel looked up with watery eyes. "Thank you for saving me." She leaned forward into Rainbowheart's shoulder as a gesture of thanks.

"Don't worry, you're fine now." Rainbowheart looked the she-cat over, "Well, you're right, you are pretty scraped up, but I still think I should have a look at them. If you don't mind, I'd like you to come with me so that I may treat you, if that's alright of course."

Hazel was hesitant. She seemed to turn to Buck for an answer of sorts, obviously knowing him from twolegplace.

"Don't worry Hazel, I'll look after your parents. This is the cat that everyone was talking about yesterday. You'll be in good paws." The tom gave both she-cats a soft look, trying to coax Hazel to take his word for it.

Hazel's eyes seemed to brighten up at Buck's revelation, and turned back to Rainbowheart. "If you are able to heal my wounds, I would be most thankful."

"Well that's settled. Buck," Rainbowheart looked at the big tom, "I'll be taking her with me. You watch your back out there."

Buck nodded and, with a last look back at them, vanished into the forest.

_He, Apple, and Meera, must have a den somewhere, _ Rainbowheart thought to herself. Funny, she thought they lived in twolegplace with the rest. She looked down at her new charge, "Come on, let's get you back to my den for some treatment and rest."

Both she-cats then disappeared in a different direction, into the night, and completely unaware that someone had been watching them the whole time; from the time Quill and Hiss had attacked, to the time Hazel and her rescuers left the scene.

The shadowy outline of a cat could be seen on one of the fences overlooking the forest. His dark purple eyes glinted, just as his fangs did, in the new moonlight that came out. "Well, well, well, it seems that we have a new neighbor. Although, I don't think you two quite welcomed her in the right way. What do you think, Quill, Hiss?"

The two cats on the grass behind him stooped their heads down and remained silent.

"No answer, well I think we should give this newcomer a proper welcome. Both of you head back and tell the others to gather. I'd like to have a talk with everyone." The shadowy cat ordered nonchalantly.

Hiss gawked at the cat, a little confused, "What for s-"

The cat cut her off, "Hiss, did I say it was alright for you to question me?" He looked angrily back at the black she-cat, who now lowered her head in regret at what she had said.

She knew very well that she could be punished severely, maybe even by her companion who enjoyed punishing, as was their job.

"We will do as you wish Bloodstorm sir." She and Quill then left, with their leader still looking at where Rainbowheart had disappeared at.

Bloodstorm smiled to himself, chuckling. "What a pretty pair of eyes that one has, even more so than mine, and such a beautiful personality too. This turn of events will make things more interesting."

* * *

**A wild Bloodstorm finally appears! **

**What exactly could Bloodstorm be planning? (it obviously isn't a birthday party that's for sure)**

**Find out next time on "That Creepy Cat Next Door"!**

**Allegiances have been updated on my profile.**

**Laters gaters!**


	11. Chapter 11

When Rainbowheart had gotten back to the den, Jade had been the only one up waiting for her. Streak, Sparrow, and Topaz were curled in the corner on the nests, snoring peacefully. The others were careful so as not to wake them, as they sat down on the other side, so that Rainbowheart could explain the situation.

After hearing what had happened near the twolegplace, Jade turned to look at Hazel with pitying eyes. "You poor thing, you must have been so frightened. Those brutes should be ashamed of themselves for attacking a defenseless young cat. If you didn't have any food to give, then they should have left you alone." She had her tail tip rubbing against Hazel's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

Hazel shook her head, with sorrowful eyes. "That's the problem, I did have food, more than enough." She looked at her paws, "But I live with my parents you see, and my mother is sick. I've been bringing them food while my father takes care of her."

Tears had begun to form in the she-cat's eyes, and began to drop when she closed them. "She hasn't been able to get better, and only gets worse, even when I give her my food, and my father is slowly losing himself. Please," she opened her eyes with pleading emotion in them. "You know how to treat sickness don't you; can you treat my mother?"

Rainbowheart looked at the poor cat with surprise in her eyes. _I only learned basic medicine. I've never treated anything other than scratches and bites. _Rainbowheart mulled it over, "I don't know how much help I'll be, if I try. We'll have to wait until tomorrow though. Can it wait that long?"

The tabby's blue eyes began to clear up. She nodded with relief, "Yes, I suppose so. She was resting when I left to go find more food for the offering, but Quill and Hiss had caught me first." She dipped her head a bit tiredly, "Tomorrow it is then, thank you."

"Alright, until then, you'll be resting. You've been through an exhausting ordeal, and you look like you could use some food. I'll treat your wounds while you lie down. Here," Rainbowheart scooted a leftover mouse and poppy seeds, which Jade had helped collect that morning, over to Hazel, "eat these. They'll give you strength and help you sleep."

Hazel blinked, but ate the food without question, taking ravenous gulps. After finishing her meal, she cautiously ate the seeds and then she lay down on her uninjured side, and began to slowly fall asleep.

While she waited for the cat to finally be completely asleep, Rainbowheart had Jade bring her some herbs. Jade was still being treated for the healing gash on her chest, so Rainbowheart was sure to keep a steady supply going, and made sure to warn the kits to stay away from the pile.

After Hazel had been treated, Rainbowheart and Jade decided to curl up next to her, to be a reassurance to the sleeping cat; a comfort. It had been Jade's idea, and Rainbowheart couldn't argue with the queen. Nonetheless, they were all soon asleep.

* * *

Hazel was more than eager to show Rainbowheart and Streak where her den was located, wanting to see her parents as soon as she could. They walked through the twolegplace with caution but haste, not wanting to catch any unwanted attention, such as the Peace Reapers. It was just the three she-cats who had gone.

While Streak was here with them, Buck and the she-cat Star had been asked to stay with Jade and the kits. Apple and Meera had been sent to inform the others that their mentor would be late getting back, and to just meet in the clearing and wait for her.

As they walked, Rainbowheart thought she could feel eyes burning through her pelt, and she stopped to gaze around. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a shadow move on the roof of a shed that was concealed by a taller building. She stared for a moment and when nothing moved, she slowly stepped back into place beside the others who had stopped to look back at her curiously.

The black and white warrior huddled closer to them, and lowered her voice so that only they could hear, "I think we're being watched; I saw something moving over there by that shed." At that, both cats slowly turned to look at the small structure, their eyes scanning it but coming up with no sign of life.

Hazel hesitantly took her eyes off of the shed, a knowing look on her face, and turned back to the little group. "I wouldn't be surprised if Bloodstorm has sent his punishers out to spy on us, or even ambush us. Quill and Hiss would have definitely told him what happened last night. They're probably watching you especially."

Rainbowheart didn't seem one bit surprised at the comment, knowing that they might want revenge for their humiliation by her and Buck, but she still asked out of curiosity, "Why would they be watching me? Shouldn't they have attacked by now instead?"

Hazel shook her tabby head. "It's not that simple; Bloodstorm prohibits any punishments from being initiated without his consent. Something like a cat holding out on them when it comes to food, will be beaten. That goes for insults to his followers too. Death comes when any cat tries to rebel against them, or insults Bloodstorm himself. He makes them suffer in any painful way he can think of."

As they continued to talk, they began walking again, but with greater speed.

Rainbowheart wished she could be shocked but what she'd been told, but she had remembered old stories concerning vile cats when she lived in ThunderClan. It occurred to her then, that her question had not been fully answered, and she sped up right alongside Hazel. "So, if I had beaten a punisher, and nobody has tried to kill me, what does Bloodstorm plan to do?"

All of them stopped when they reached a narrow alleyway that could only fit one of them at a time. Before they walked through, Hazel turned around to answer the question, "If you haven't been approached by one with the aim of revenge, then Bloodstorm most likely is planning on recruiting you."

She had a sad tone in her voice. "They take away all who are capable to fight, that's how they get stronger. They take away young cats, when they're old enough, who Bloodstorm sees potential in."

Hazel turned back towards the dark alley, still speaking softly, "They even take away your best friends to join them."

Rainbowheart stared at the tabby with confusion, and then understanding crept up in her, on the last part that Hazel had just said.

They walked through the narrow darkness of the alley, light fading behind them. It was long and dark, and Rainbowheart began to wonder if this alley went on forever. Soon though, light was shining in front of them, and they all padded out into a small cleared out area, that seemed to have been forgotten by the twolegs. It dipped down into the ground, with a twoleg nest surrounding each side. The only other way out that could be seen was a large pipe that stuck out in between two twoleg nests that must lead out to the other side.

Looking around more, the cats noticed a pair of old cats lying down on some old-looking twoleg blankets. They all walked over to them, simultaneously waking up the brown tabby tom, who gave a leery stare before realizing who had come to pay them a visit.

The tom carefully got up and padded over to the group, going straight up to Hazel and touching his nose to her forehead. Sadness could be seen in this old tom's amber eyes, just as much as his daughter's, who had been bleeding them dry of her tears the night before.

The old tabby soon stepped back to get a get a good look at the two that had come with his daughter. "Who are your friends dear?" He looked suspicious of Rainbowheart, but she really couldn't blame the old cat. It was her eyes, always the eyes, that caught attention.

Hazel answered for them, "Rockslide, this is that cat that the others were talking about the other day; the one who's training some of the cats to fight." She motioned to both of the other cats, "This is Rainbowheart, and this is Streak. They're here to help us with Shell. Rainbowheart knows how to heal, and she saved me last night from Quill and Hiss."

Hazel stopped when she saw some hope flicker in the tom's eyes, but then it faded, and he turned to stare sadly at his mate, who was still lying on the blankets, breathing slowly.

Rockslide shook his head, "I don't think anything could help her now."

Rainbowheart could see that the old cat had given up hope. She really couldn't blame the old cat. However, she had promised that she would try and heal the sick cat. Slowly Rainbowheart padded closer to the old tom, and touched her tail tip to his shoulder, getting him to look at her.

She gazed at him with forced, soft eyes. "I'm going to try everything that I can, to help her. Don't give up just yet."

Rockslide just stared at her, unable to say anything, and nodded. The others watched as Rainbowheart then walked over to the dozing she-cat, and examined her carefully.

As soon as Rainbowheart had sat down near Shell, she could tell that the white cat was not well at all. There was a definite fever raining off of her, and her voice sounded raspy while she moaned in pain in her sleep. Something struck her about the sickness. She remembered a cat dying of something like this before in ThunderClan.

This cat had greencough.

_Oh StarClan no, of all the things it had to be greencough. It's too early though. _Rainbowheart's spirit began to sag; she was hoping it wouldn't be anything like this.

_The only thing that can cure this is catmint, and I'm sure there's some around here, but I don't know if I'll be able to save her in time especially if I have to look for it._ After her examination of Shell, Rainbowheart went back over to the others, who were waiting for her opinion.

"Alright, if we're going to save her, I'm going to need to work fast. Do either of you know where I can get some catmint? It's a very good smelling plant that is usually found near twoleg nests."

Rockslide shook his head, "I know what you're talking about, but I haven't seen any in a long time around here. Although, you may want to ask the cat Star. She sneaks around all of the time to explore when the Peace Reapers aren't looking. If anyone would know where to find catmint, then she would."

"Star's back at their den though, and the trip to here is much too long, and could take up time. Isn't there anything else we could use to help her that's easier to find?" Hazel questioned Rainbowheart with distress.

The red-eyed cat grimaced, "No, catmint is the only thing that can save her." She looked up at the sky above them. She hadn't thought that it would take this much time. Her eyes then focused on Rockslide. "Tell me, would it be possible to move her? If we can get her to walk through that pipe over there, two of us can carry her back to the den. If I can slow down the symptoms with the herbs I already have, then it would be possible for me to find the catmint even with the amount of time it would take."

Rockslide sighed, "I will see if she is able to get up. Hold on one second while I check."

He then walked over to where his mate lay asleep. Rainbowheart saw him whisper in her ear and gently prod her awake. The white she-cat's black tail twitched up and down before she opened her light blue eyes. She seemed really weak, and after some encouragement from Rockslide, she was able to stand up.

Shell was leaning on Rockslide's shoulder as they walked back over to the group. "Let's hurry, before she collapses elsewhere, with us unable to get her back up." Shell was panting and having a hard time getting over to the pipe, but she endured with extra help from Hazel.

"Alright dear, just a little more and then we'll carry you the rest of the way." Rockslide nudged Shell forward. The others followed the pair of old cats through the pipe and out onto the other side. Rainbowheart realized that the pipe led out right behind a large bush that concealed it from plain sight.

As soon as they were all out, Rockslide and Hazel went on either side of Shell once more. Rockslide crouched down on his stomach, while Hazel gave her mother instructions to get on his back.

The she-cat reluctantly complied and shakily fell onto her mate's back. She seemed like she would pass out into unconsciousness.

Seeing that they were all ready, Rainbowheart and Hazel led them all forward. Streak stayed back near Rockslide so that she could help to keep Shell steady on his back. Shell was already passed out, just like Rainbowheart thought she'd be. It was probably a good thing. The old cat didn't need to experience the bumpy ride ahead of her at the moment.

After a good amount of time had passed, and they were on the border of the twolegplace, the cats stopped so that Rockslide could rest his most likely sore back. If it was sore though, he didn't complain about it. It was obvious that he probably couldn't take much more though, and Rainbowheart decided that it would be better to fetch Buck now.

"Streak, do you think you can go get Buck? It'll be easier on Rockslide if another cat can carry Shell back to the burrow, and Buck is the only cat that would be able to do it right now." Rainbowheart could see that Rockslide was about to protest. "It'll be easier on everyone else also. I really don't want to be treating anymore cats than I already have been. I don't want to have to treat a bad back too." The old tabby grumbled to himself, but seemed to agree and didn't argue.

Streak waved her tail in response and sped off into the tree line, her black pelt being enveloped in various shades of greens.

While Streak was gone, Rainbowheart decided to do another vitals check on Shell. The white she-cat was still asleep, laying next to Rockslide who had his pelt pressed against hers, matching each breath that she took.

Hazel, silent now, seemed lost in her thoughts.

The young tabby finally spoke up, "I hope we aren't too late. She's not as young as she used to be, and this is the third time that she's gotten sick." She looked at her parents with soft eyes. "I admire my father's love for her so much."

Movement in the brush cut her off, and they both turned to see Buck and Star running out of the woods.

Both cats were panting by the time they got to the group. They stared down at Shell, and Buck poked Rockslide to get up.

The old tom grumbled; he had fallen asleep apparently.

Seeing that someone he knew had come to help him. "So this is where you've been the whole time." He gestured to Rainbowheart and the forest. "I thought you were kidding when you said you would find someone to help fight Bloodstorm."

"I don't kid, not when it comes to my home and friends." Buck was talking while Star and Hazel helped get Shell on his back without waking her. "I say Bloodstorm and his Peace Reapers have overstayed their welcome. It's high time for them to get their hides out of our territory." Buck nodded to Rainbowheart, but she wasn't listening.

The others could see the warrior staring up at one of the fences with her pelt fluffed out. When they followed her gaze and saw several strange cats, they froze.

"Why hello there," a misty grey tom chuckled out. His purple eyes half-lidded as he stared at the group. He was accompanied by several other cats.

Bloodstorm and some of his punishers.

Quickly, the others got in front of Hazel and Buck, who was now carrying Shell. They were the main priority, considering that Hazel was still somewhat weak, and Buck carried a sick cat on his back.

"Come now there's no need to be so guarded. I've only come to talk to your new friend," the misty pelted Bloodstorm turned his purple gaze to each cat. A dangerous gleam sparked in his eyes. "It's good to see you Buck. I thought that you'd left with Meera and that yappy one, oh what's his name…" He had a knowing smile on his face that caused Buck to step forward, hackles raised.

"You know very well what his name is! After all you're the one who had him fight you." Buck seemed to get riled more so than usual, as Bloodstorm spoke. He was usually a calm cat, unless the matter of the Peace Reapers was brought up.

Bloodstorm had an innocent looked on his face now, "I was just doing my duty as a leader, and punishing those that dare challenge me. He was lucky to not have gotten the death penalty."

Buck mock-laughed, "Leader, you're no leader. A real leader doesn't go around taking others' food when those ones are starving. A real leader doesn't force others out of their homes to be left to die. A real leader doesn't attack cats, who are minding their own business, just for fun. A real leader isn't trash like you!" The brown tom hissed out those last words with malice.

Bloodstorm twitched a torn black ear in irritation. His eyes became darker when he changed his black-masked face to an expression of anger. Instead of attacking though, he nodded for one of the punishers sitting next to him.

A silver tabby tom with his right eye missing, jumped off the fence and padded up to Rainbowheart, laying down something at her feet. The cat then stepped back in next to Bloodstorm who now sat on the ground with the other punishers.

Bloodstorm's pelt seemed to be sticking out, and he was clearly trying to keep his composure intact after what Buck had said. In any other situation, he probably would have killed Buck right then and there. That day could wait though.

Rainbowheart looked at what the silver cat had placed at her feet. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was. _Catmint!_ She looked back at Bloodstorm, who seemed to have calmed down seeing her surprise.

The muscular grey tom smiled at her, "A little birdie told me that you needed some of that stuff, so I thought that it would be a nice chance to meet our newest neighbor. That is what you're looking for, right?"

The warrior nodded cautiously, still in a battle stance, just in case they try to pull something.

"Like I said, there's no need to be so cautious; I've just come to talk." He was still smiling, and it sent chills down the warrior's spine. It was putting her even more on edge.

Rainbowheart didn't trust him at all. "Well you're here now, so talk," she said briskly, making a point to him that she wouldn't be nice. She had a weird feeling about this cat, and it wasn't just what Foxflower had said either; she had another weird feeling, but she couldn't pinpoint it.

Bloodstorm chuckled lowly, "Right to the point, I like that. Anyway, I've come to personally invite you and whoever else that you'd like to bring, to a little…" he seemed to be searching for a word, and then he finally settled on one, "get together." He showed off a full fanged grin.

Rainbowheart looked back at the others, who weren't taking their eyes off of the punishers that accompanied the misty dictator. She looked back at him with her mind already made up. "Go eat crowfood."

The misty tom scoffed at her statement, "Oh, 'no' isn't an option. You see, I know where your little camp is. I also happen to know that you have a pair of adorable, helpless kits with you."

The tom's statement made Rainbowheart's expression fall.

"I have your attention now, don't I? So," he gave a winning grin, "what'll it be?"

"You filthy piece of-"

"Ah-ah-ah, heh, insults get you nowhere. And if you attack me right now, my punishers will kill you all where you stand." Bloodstorm gestured to the battle-ready cats at his side.

One in particular seemed overjoyed by his leader's remark.

"Ohhh, their pelts would look nice in my den," came the sweet, hissing voice of a red-brown tom. His pelt seemed odd, having darker patches on it, and the scent of death hung to him. He stared with bright yellow eyes at them all, twisted thoughts roaming his mind.

"Now, as I asked before, what will it be?" Bloodstorm tilted his head with serious question this time.

There was no other choice given that Rainbowheart could see. The cat would have to agree. "... All right then, I'll come with you to this "get together" as long as you promise there will be no fighting." The she-cat bared her teeth.

"Deal," the misty tom stated, and then glanced back at Buck and Shell. "You may want to treat that one though." He stood up, and motioned for his punishers to do the same. "I will give you four days 's a good amount so that you can get the ill one treated. There will be two cats here to pick you up and escort you to my hideout. Be here before sun down." He flashed the group a sadistic grin, "Try not to be late."

Before they started to leave, Rainbowheart got a glance at two of the punishers in the group who had been staring at something behind Rainbowheart. One was a brown tabby with a long tail and yellow eyes. The other was a pretty cream she-cat that had light blue eyes.

Both cats seemed to have saddened and regretful expressions that stuck out from the other stern and blood-thirsty looking punishers.

Turning around, Rainbowheart saw that Hazel was the only cat in their view. She turned back towards the two cats, question in her mind. _Do they know each other…?_

"Bronze, Gem, get over here now. Everyone else is leaving." A golden tabby with huge scars along his back yelled at the two cats.

The tom and she-cat hesitated, but then followed the irritated cat, sticking behind the group.

Now that Bloodstorm and his punishers were gone, everyone relaxed, and Rainbowheart motioned for everyone to get going to the burrow.

When they finally reached the den and the clearing, Rainbowheart could see the twolegplace cats were there. It seemed that everyone from yesterday had been able to come back.

When she walked by them, they gave her knowing looks, and congratulated her, for reasons unknown to her. She turned to Buck for answers, and he gave an embarrassed laugh.

"While you were out, I told them about what happened last night; about how you sent Quill like a scared rabbit."

"Was she really that bad?" They were in the den now, and Buck let Shell down on one of the nests. Rainbowheart instructed everyone to stay outside, except for Rockslide, Hazel, and Buck, and started working while she talked.

Buck nodded, "Like I said last night, she's insane. Though, she's not level headed enough to be the leader of the punishers. She is one of the ones that gets sent out, to attack someone. After what you did, those cats out there have greater respect for you."

Rainbowheart had just got Shell to wake up and eat some of the herbs; she looked up now at Buck, "Really?" From how Buck was speaking, it made the she-cat think he was trying to make a point with his bragging about her.

The big cat nodded, and added, "They think you're a hero." He was silent for a moment and looked like he wanted to ask something, but decided not to, due to their companions in the burrow with them.

After Shell had been treated properly and her family's worries were put to rest, Rainbowheart sent them out, leaving only her, Buck, and a sickly sleeping cat inside. She could feel the questioning aura of the tom, but he didn't speak, and just watched as she tidied the place up a bit.

Finally, the question rolled off his tongue, "Rainbowheart, I want to ask you to stay and help us fight Bloodstorm."

* * *

**Bet you thought he'd ask for a date by the river didn't ya? **

**Too bad, I ship Buck with his desperation **

**Buck x Desperation 5ever**

**Just kidding xD **

**So I'll try and get the next chapter up tomorrow, and allegiances have been updated.**

**Peace bishes!**


	12. Chapter 12

_"Rainbowheart, I want to ask you to stay and help us fight Bloodstorm."_

The red-eyed warrior couldn't help but feel a little irritated with Buck. It appeared to Rainbowheart that the tom was quite desperate to fight against Bloodstorm and the Peace Reapers. That was exactly the kind of thing Rainbowheart didn't wish to take part in.

"I'm sorry," she said to Buck, "but I can't help you further than training."

Buck sprang up from where he sat, "But you have to, please, you must." He was pleading with the trained warrior now. "None of these cats would actually be out there right now if it wasn't for you being here." There needed to be a reason. If his reason could make the cat stay and help, they might have a chance.

Rainbowheart turned her head to the side and stared at the ground. "I am sorry, but I cannot be involved in a conflict that has nothing to do with me. All I am able to do is train you and the others, and if I have to, heal whoever is injured or sick."

"But…" The tom was at a loss for words. He knew deep down that the she-cat had made her case with plausible facts but there was still irritation at his core, that the warrior would not help him fight against the hated dictator and his followers.

In the end, Buck had to agree, lest Rainbowheart take away her free services to him and the others. The brown tom licked the teeth that stuck out of his mouth, "I will accept your answer." He looked up with defeated eyes, "But please, I urge you to think about considering my offer."

Rainbowheart glanced at Buck and then the ground. "I make no promises… but okay." She had to say it if she was going to get the cat to stop badgering her.

Buck nodded, "That is all I shall ask of you." He dipped his head once, and then padded out of the den, leaving Rainbowheart to her own thoughts.

_I'm sorry Buck, but I won't be changing my mind..._

"Rainbowheart!"

The black and white warrior snapped herself around to see Meera standing in the den entrance. "Meera, what's wrong?" She could tell that the she-cat was a bit irritated, indicated by her ruffled fur.

The ash-pelted cat flicked an ear, "The kittypets and loners are fighting. They're at each other's throats. Buck told me to get you, to see if you could control them, so get out here and work your 'almighty clan magic', Patchy."

Despite the fact Rainbowheart was now irritated with Meera from that comment, she immediately padded after her outside.

There was tension in the air, that much Rainbowheart could tell. There were two groups of the trainees, both arguing with someone from the other. "What happened?" she questioned Streak, who padded over to her side.

Streak grimaced, "Well, everyone was doing fine, but then Blue said something to Hampton, and then he got mad and ended up insulting the kittypets. The other loners then joined in after Jewel said something about them."

Streak seemed a bit stressed. "I tried to get them to calm down, but they won't listen to me. They're all too busy arguing with each other. The only one who isn't fighting is Chris."

Rainbowheart flicked her ears at the name, "Where's he at?"

"He and Apple said that they would accompany Jade and the kits on a little walk." Star padded up to the other cats with Buck at her side. She stopped in front of Rainbowheart, her face expressionless, "If I may suggest it, you should probably get the others to stop fighting now. They are embarrassing themselves."

The warrior thanked StarClan that the young ones weren't there to see this. Taking in a deep breath she gathered her voice, and then released an ear-splitting yowl. The cats near her flattened their ears against their heads, and gave a shocked look towards the red-eyed cat. The arguing cats suddenly stopped.

Looking around, Rainbowheart exhaled and gave a satisfied smirk. The trainees had a hard time continuing their argument after that.

Rainbowheart replaced her smirk with a disappointed gaze. "Look at yourselves. Even the kits are more behaved than this."

A few of the cats averted their eyes, too ashamed to look their new mentor in the eyes.

Rainbowheart took a deep breath, "I'm not going to even ask who started it. You all chose to join in the silly quarrel, so you all will be punished."

Behind her Rainbowheart could hear branches and twigs snapping. Jade and the kits, accompanied by Apple and Chris emerged from the undergrowth. "What happened? We heard a really loud yowl." The she-cat looked around wildly, with both Chris and Apple next to her and the kits behind them. Streak padded up her to panicked sister and whispered into her ear. The white queen's worried face fell. "Oh..."

"Jewel and Hampton, since you are already being punished, you will do a few chores around the clearing; hunting and helping me with gathering herbs." Both cats that had been called out lowered their heads at Rainbowheart's statement. "As for the rest of you, since you seem so keen on arguing about which cats are better, you will all be assigned a partner from the other side, just like these two."

"Blair, you will be partnered with Cliff." Rainbowheart heard the she-cat give a barely audible whine, and saw Cliff rolling his eyes.

"Suzie, you and Spike shall be partners," she saw both of them grimace, but they turned and gave each other hesitant nods.

"And Brick and Nutmeg, since you both seem to work well together you will be partners."

Neither cat reacted like the others, instead choosing to exchange smiles, and Nutmeg was playing with her paws.

"Um, Rainbowheart." Chilly's blue eyes were filled with interest, her tone rather curious instead of angry or down. "I don't mean to interrupt, but Blue and I are the only ones left, and we're both house cats. So I was wondering…"

"Chilly you will train with Chris and Blue will train with me." Rainbowheart glanced behind her, "Is that alright with you Chris?" She didn't want to punish the tom since he hadn't been there, but the others were already paired up.

Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind." It wouldn't be a problem for the cat to partner with a kittypet. All of the cats liked the tom, and knew him to be a very hyperactive, but sweet cat.

"It's settled then. I want all of you to get to know your partner during the time you spend training." Rainbowheart's expression hardened, "This will be the last time that I hear about who is better than the other. You are all here to train, but if the peace around here continues to be disrupted, I will resign from teaching you all any further."

As soon as Rainbowheart finished, Buck padded over to whisper something in her ear.

"Oh, that's right." Rainbowheart tured back to the trainees, "Before we go on to training, I have a little matter that I'd like to discuss with you all. It seems that Bloodstorm has invited me to a little get together, with him and his Peace Reapers, in four days."

"What!" Hampton lashed his tail irritably. The tom was obviously not happy about the news.

Cliff, trying to be a little more controlled, spoke in a calm tone. "Please tell me you said no."

Rainbowheart shook her head, getting yowls of disapproval. "I am sorry," she spoke above the voices, "but no was not an option for me."

More yowls.

"Please calm down all of you. I know that this could possibly be a trap, but Bloodstorm has agreed to act in a civilized manner."

"Civilized manner?!" Hampton hissed, lashing his tail.

"I'm sorry Rainbowheart, but I must say that I disapprove of your view of Bloodstorm," Jewel padded up to stand next to Hampton. "Cats have tried to reason with him, but he continues to ignore our pleas. There is no 'civilized manner' with him."

"I used to think that one must show others true kindness, before they themselves can show kindness and see the light that hides within the dark," Rainbowheart spoke calmly, eyes closed. "But I'm not so stupid as to believe what Bloodstorm says."

Her eyes opened, half-lidded, "It doesn't change my mind." She didn't say why exactly. The reason she was going was because she had been threatened with information concerning the den's location and who stayed here.

How did Bloodstorm know this though?

"Well if you go by yourself, there's a good chance that Bloodstorm will drive you off by force, or worse kill you. We can't have that now can we?" Buck sat down next to the she-cat.

He gazed over at the trainees. "Alright you lot, those of you who aren't kittypets, you'll be accompanying us to meet with Bloodstorm. Those who are kittypets, can choose to go if they wish. I won't convince you to go, if you don't want to."

A few of the cats shifted in place, and Nutmeg whispered something to Blair and Suzie. The two she-cats nodded their heads slightly, apparently agreeing with whatever the shy cat had said.

Blair, being the more outspoken, answered for them, "I am sorry, but we will not go with you. I hope that you understand."

Rainbowheart understood, but did not say anything. She turned to the other kittypets. "And you three?"

"We will also stay beh-"

"I'll go," Jewel cut Blue off, before he could finish his sentence. Hampton, who was still standing next to her, gave her a skeptical stare. She caught his stare, and glared, "I may be a kittypet, but I'm not going to give you all the chance to be able to prove yourselves, when you have nothing to prove."

She fluffed out her fur, and looked the tabby tom straight in the eye. "I am just as strong as the rest of you."

For once, the tom didn't take the chance to snipe back at the kittypet. It was obvious that the quick-tongued tom had met his match. He gulped. "Whatever you say," was all the tom could manage out.

That was it, for those who had a chosen to go to the meeting with the Peace Reapers. And once it was settled, it was time to get back to training. "Like I said, we will be training with partners. Today's lesson will involve groups of three, with two cats taking on one cat. Now who wants to help me demonstrate?"

* * *

Training went on for a while after demonstrations.

Currently, Rainbowheart was in a bout, with Blue and Streak trying to knock her over. Though this was training, the warrior was not going to make it easy to catch her off guard. It took a while until her opponents were finally able to trip her up, with Blue practically running circles around her, and Streak taking the chance while her friend was distracted.

Now, Streak stood above Rainbowheart, triumphant in her stance. The black cat was definitely pleased with herself, as she should be.

Rainbowheart rolled her eyes at the she-cat's cockiness, "Don't get too full of yourselves. It still took you a while to get me pinned." The fallen faces of her group members, called for her to add, "You both did well though. Why don't you take a break; I think Meera, Jewel, and Hampton are done. Streak, why don't you lead a hunting party?"

The she-cat seemed taken aback, "Are you sure?"

"I think that you'll be able to handle it," said Rainbowheart.

Streak blinked, "W-well if you think so. I won't let you down."

"I know. Off you go then," Rainbowheart waved both off with a nod of her head. She watched, as they walked over to the three cats who were already finished, and looking pretty tired.

Streak seemed to be relaying Rainbowheart's message, as she was pointing over in the warrior's direction with her tail. After that, all five of them got up, and disappeared in the foliage that surrounded the clearing.

Rainbowheart took the momentary reprieve and looked around the clearing, observing the helping cats correct the inexperienced one's mistakes, with few flaws. As the warrior's gaze wandered closer to the den, it landed Hazel, who was intently watching the training going on. To Rainbowheart though, the look in her eyes betrayed that she was thinking of something completely separate from battle training.

Near the den entrance, Rockslide was telling the kits a very engrossing tale. What the story was about, Rainbowheart couldn't tell, but it was keeping the rambunctious youngsters occupied.

Deciding to confront the troubled she-cat, Rainbowheart quietly made her way over to Hazel. "Hey Hazel," she saw the cat's eyes flicker up, but then they moved to focusing on the ground. Sighing, Rainbowheart sat down next to the blue-eyed cat, which in turn, triggered her to sit as well.

"So," Rainbowheart started, "You've been pretty distant. Thinking about your mother?"

Hazel was silent for a bit, but Rainbowheart didn't mind. "Those cats you saw, with the Peace Reapers, you know the ones…" Hazel trailed off.

Well that certainly wasn't close to what Rainbowheart thought the cat was thinking about. "Hmn… Were they your friends?"

"... They had tried to stand up to Bloodstorm a couple of moons ago. I was trying to bring some food back, for my parents because my father wasn't able to hunt. On the way back I was attacked by Hiss. She told me to either give her the food, or give her my life." Hazel spoke quietly, emotionless as she recalled the day.

"I had never been more scared in my life, but it wasn't because I may die. It was knowing that if I die, then so do my parents. All I could do, was watch as Hiss got ready to attack me again."

Rainbowheart could see the dream-like expression form on Hazel's face.

"It was Amethyst and Bronze who came to my rescue. They ended up beating Hiss. I was grateful to them, for being there for me when I needed them the most."

Hazel's voice suddenly filled with a sort of regret. "It was my fault that they got taken away; them and Bronze's brothers. When Bloodstorm came for them, he asked where Bronze had learned to fight. His brothers had been the ones to teach him and Amethyst."

Rainbowheart touched her tail to the brown cat's shoulder, "There's nothing you could have done."

"I-I know but… they used to be so happy, and now when I see them, if I see them, they look so… broken. Sometimes I wish that I could just go back and set things on a better path."

"I'm sure we all feel like that at times…" Rainbowheart stated. There were definitely things she wished she could go back and change in her life.

"Your name is quite unique. Is it from the clans that the others were talking about?" Hazel's eyes still held the sadness of the earlier conversation, but they also held a genuine interest to what the answer to her question might be. She was obviously trying to get things away from herself now.

For once, Rainbowheart gave a fond sigh. "During my travels, I was known as Rainbow, and the ending of my name came from the clans. When I was accepted into the clan, I asked that I keep my name, but allowed my mentor to incorporate it into a clan name. You see, a dear friend of mine had given me my name. He had said that it suited me."

Hazel cocked her head a bit to the side, "Why is that?"

Rainbowheart shook her head. "I don't really know. He told me that a rainbow appears after a storm, after it rains. There is birthed a light that takes its opportunity to make to world beautiful once more. It is made up of many colors, that all balance each other out." She looked down to see Hazel's contemplating stare. "That's what my friend had told me, before he died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't..."

"It's ok, you didn't know." The red-eyed warrior looked back up at the sky, "I know he's out there somewhere, watching over me." She added in her mind, _It doesn't mend my regrets, though._

"Hey guys, look what we've got!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing, to draw their attention to the source of the voice. Streak's hunting party was now walking out of the forest, success on their faces and in their jaws.

The proud black cat padded over to an area near the large stump, and put the two squirrels she had caught, down.

"Eat up everyone," Meera placed a rabbit she'd caught, iin the pile.

"Wow, you guys caught so much!" Chilly complemented.

Jewel dropped two birds onto the pile, and shook off the squirrels that were on her back also. "It was no problem. Streak and Meera taught us how to hunt while we out there."

"Hey Rainbowheart, can learning how to hunt help with battle training also?" Cliff questioned, picking out a bird for himself.

The warrior padded over with Hazel and the kits by her side. The kits ran to greet their aunt, while Hazel picked out a lean rabbit for herself and Rockslide.

"Well yes. If you want to learn how to take an enemy by surprise, then hunting is certainly a good way to learn." Rainbowheart picked up a bird.

"In that case, can you teach everyone how to hunt?" asked Chris.

"Well, since it would still be training, I guess. Let's eat first though," Rainbowheart said through the feathers of the prey in her jaws.

"Hey Rainbowheart, when do we get to hunt?" Topaz stared at the she-cat, a bit of wonder in his eyes.

"Yeah, you said that you'd make us clan apprentices, and Jade and Streak warriors." Sparrow joined in with her brother.

"Apprentices and warriors, what, are you making your own clan now?" Hampton joked. No one was laughing. The grey tom noticed, and blinked his blue eyes, "You are making your own clan, aren't you."

Rainbowheart's jaws were still packed with prey, so all she could do was move a paw around the dirt and grass. All was silent, even the kits.

"Why's everyone so quiet?" All eyes were suddenly on Chris, who gave the others a puzzled look.

"What's wrong with making a clan? You all didn't seem so judgmental about it yesterday. I think that it's a great idea." The young tom lifted his head up, and puffed out his chest fur. "You're all just jealous of them I think."

Hampton gave the young cat a skeptical look, but rethought about what he had said earlier. "Chris is right, at least about the judgmental part. I should not have joked about it," the tabby lowered his head. "I am sorry."

"It's quite alright. Now how about we all eat," Rainbowheart said through feathers, wanting to get this day over with.


	13. Chapter 13

Blue had decided to go home after quickly finishing his meal. Everyone else was still eating, but at a slower pace, wanting to savor the food that they were eating. They still had to give up whatever food that they could that morning, to the Peace Reapers. They were thankful they could still have this food, though.

While eating some of the bird that she had chewed off, Rainbowheart thought about how they would go about with their meeting with the Peace Reapers. _Hazel said that Bloodstorm wants to probably recruit me. That's a high possibility._

_On the other paw though, it could be that he wants to get the jump on us. He'll want me to come to an agreement with him, and if I say no, then they'll attack us. There's also the fact that other little thing..._

"Hampton to Rainbowheart, hello, did you hear me?"

Rainbowheart's mind snapped back to reality. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't noticed that the others had been talking to her. She looked at Hampton across from her, who had a questioning look on his face. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" she asked, embarrassed.

The grey tabby looked a bit irritated but repeated what he had said before, "I asked what the plan was for dealing with the Peace Reapers at the meeting; I know it's days before we go, but we'd all like to know what it is we'll be doing."

Everyone looked to their mentor for the next plan of action.

Rainbowheart didn't know where to start, but decided to go with the first thing that came to mind. "Well first, I'd like to ask something." There was seriousness in her voice as she spoke. "Has anyone stated information to anyone acquainted with Bloodstorm?" Before anyone could talk she also added, "The reason I couldn't say no to the invitation was because Bloodstorm disclosed he knew where the den was and threatened the little ones."

Jade's eyes widened, and she suddenly curled her tail around her kits tightly.

"I ask again, has anyone spoken to someone in the Peace Reapers?"

The others were a bit shocked. The loners looked at Rainbowheart as if she had eaten a rotten piece of prey. Was she accusing one of them to be a traitor?

"How dare you ask us something like that!" Hampton sprung up, defensive. "We came here to learn from you, not be subjected to suspicion."

"I understand that," Rainbowheart responded, slowly rising to her paws, "But the fact that Bloodstorm threatened my group with information he shouldn't know, is cause for my own concern."

"Well it could have been one of the others who never came for training," Cliff stated, more calm than Hampton, but obviously not enjoying being a suspect with the others. "They came here and saw the den and the kits. They could have blabbed. Or maybe someone's been spying on us from afar."

No one spoke after that. All that could be heard for the moment was the wind through the trees. The sun had begun to go down. They would need to leave soon, with slight sourness in mood from Rainbowheart's accusation.

Finally, a voice cut through the silence, "I think it was Blue." Everyone turned to look at the owner of the voice. Spike was sitting up straight, a hard look in his eyes. "I've seen him talking with one of the Peace Reapers."

Rainbowheart sat up quickly at the news, "When did you see him?"

Spike closed his eyes in thought, and then slowly opened them up, "Um, a couple of days ago. Definitely before you showed up. He seemed to have been talking to one of the punishers, a grey tabby with one eye; I think his name is Silver. They seemed real chummy. I didn't remember until now."

Rainbowheart nodded, but wasn't relieved just yet. If Blue was a spy, then he knew about the training methods they'd been doing. The cat seemed so nice though. Then again, his early departures suddenly put him in a place of suspicion.

"Thank you, this is good information to know. This only proves that he's been in contact with the Peace Reapers though." She looked around the circle. "If Blue is a spy, we may need to approach this situation in a different way than I thought."

"But even so, what can we do about it?" Nutmeg spoke up, her tone a bit wary. She couldn't believe Blue might be giving information to their enemy.

Suzie agreed with her friend, "It's not like we can spy on him." Everyone stared at the green eyed cat. "What?"

Buck smiled at the kittypet, "That's exactly what we can do. What do you think Rainbowheart?"

The black and white cat thought for a moment. "It does seem like our only choice in the matter, but who would do it?" Everyone knew that it couldn't be Rainbowheart, or Jade, or Streak that did it, since it was the warrior that Bloodstorm was obviously after.

"I will," Chris said, getting the others' attention.

Though there was no doubt in the young cat's courage and spirit, Rainbowheart had to protest for once. "I'm sorry Chris, but I don't think that is such a good idea."

"What, but why? I can do it, I really can," the green eyed tom pleaded. "Just because I'm young, doesn't mean I'm unable to do the things that the rest of you can. Just give me a chance." Chris gazed at the others, trying to get them to agree with him.

"I have to agree with Rainbowheart, it's not a good idea to send you out there to spy on a possibly dangerous threat," Brick said, a smirk in his voice. "That's why I think that it would be better if I go with you."

He turned to Rainbowheart, "This isn't a job for one cat, and I think that Chris and I can both get the job done. All we're doing is watching Blue to see if he's doing something suspicious. No need to worry." He winked.

"Besides, it is our fight. It's not like we are a part of your clan, so you don't really need to worry about us right?" Buck had spoken, with a hint of bitterness. He obviously was cross at the fact that Rainbowheart still hadn't reconsidered fighting with them. Sore much?

The warrior shifted her paws, at the tom's tone of voice, but didn't let anything show in her voice. "Sorry, I guess you're right Chris. You do deserve a chance. So I'll leave Blue to you both then." Deep inside, she couldn't help but feel like Buck was being a kit right now.

"Well now that that's settled, I think that it's time for us to be heading home," Blair stood up, and dipped her head. "Thank you, for the meal, and for helping us."

"We'll be sure to come at the same time tomorrow. Good night," Jewel said, and then walked off with the other kittypets. They all then disappeared into the foliage, in the direction of the twolegplace.

Brick and Spike suddenly got up. Brick mewed thanks for the food. "I think that we'll go with them, just to make sure that they get home safely."

Streak whispered into Jade's ear, "Yeah that's it." Both she-cats chuckled, making the two toms frown.

"Whatever; see you guys later," Spike said, and he and Brick padded away into the forest.

Hampton shook his head and scoffed, "Chasing after kittypets. They could do so much better."

Cliff looked at his friend in disbelief, "What are you talking about? Just last night you were saying how you thought that J- mrf." Hampton suddenly shoved his tail over the jabbering cat's mouth.

"Hey do you guys mind if we stay with you? Our place got taken over by some punishers this morning, so we don't have anywhere to go," Hampton said, obviously changing the subject.

Streak rolled her eyes, and Jade giggled at the grey cat's nervous actions.

"I don't mind, but I'll need some help making more nests," Rainbowheart stood up, and buried the scraps of prey she had left.

"That's ok, we can help," Cliff said, not feeling like being taken care of anyway.

"Follow me then. Streak, Jade, can the both of you gather up the feathers that are lying around?" Rainbowheart asked.

"Sure thing," Streak replied, and the sisters began gathering up stray feathers.

The black-and-white warrior turned to Buck and his group, "I guess I'll see you all tomorrow then." She gave Buck a solemn look.

"Actually, Star was wondering if she could stay too," Buck stated, carelessness in his voice.

Rainbowheart looked at the odd-eyed she-cat, "Um… sure if you want to."

"Thank you. I feel as though it would be best if I help you take care of Shell. After all, you are only slightly knowledgeable with herbs, am I right?" Star said, her head tilted and mismatched eyes holding question and knowing.

Rainbowheart blinked her eyes, "You know how to use herbs?" That was a surprise to the warrior. She didn't recall the blue-grey cat informing her of this. It really would have been useful information before.

Star didn't answer, and instead drew her attention to Buck "I will be fine here. We shall see you three in the morning," she stated, dismissing him.

The big tom grunted, and motioned for him and his friends to the edge of the clearing. They vanished.

Star padded past Rainbowheart and stood next to Hampton and Cliff, "I shall help you gather the moss that is needed for the nests, and maybe I can find some herbs on the way back."

Rainbowheart opened up her mouth to again ask the blue-grey cat, but stopped. She was tired, and didn't feel like Star would actually explain herself. She padded into the lead of the cats, and they took off to gather more moss.

When they had all gotten back to the den, Rainbowheart instructed the new denmates to make their nests by hers, Streak's, and Jade's. Since they had a sick cat staying with them, and nowhere else to sleep, they would have to make do with the cramped space away from Shell.

Star had been lucky enough to find a patch of plants, that Rainbowheart couldn't identify, that would be helpful with getting Shell better quicker.

While the white-faced cat was working, it was noted that Streak had padded over to join her near Shell. From what could be seen, Star seemed to be lecturing the black cat on how to use the plant.

Rainbowheart looked on as they chatted. It was strange to her. Streak had never stated anything about wanting to learn about healing. Had she missed any signs showing that the other cat wanted to know about herbs? She remembered telling her some basics but that was it.

In any case, Rainbowheart wouldn't have really been able to teach her that much. She'd let Star handle this, if Streak really was interested.

Everyone was now settled in their nest, one falling asleep after the other. Through the darkness, Rainbowheart could faintly see the soft-breathing shapes of Hazel and Rockslide, who had decided to sleep next to Shell to keep her warm.

Rainbowheart didn't know when she had fallen asleep, but she soon found herself awake in StarClan, or at least what she thought could be StarClan. She looked around, knowing that she was here for a reason. A beautiful ginger pelt suddenly came into her line of sight, and she padded over to Foxflower, who was accompanied by a small blue-grey tom with a white belly.

"Foxflower, Dewstar," Rainbowheart dipped her head. When she looked up, she saw that both cats had exchanged glances that held a secret from her. Their pelts seemed a bit ruffled, and they were breathing a bit abnormally. _Were they fighting?_

"It's good to see you again Rainbowheart and it is also good to see that you have found cats willing to join you," said Dewstar. The blue-grey cat's eyes flickered with worry, but after a few blinks it had disappeared. "Though it seems that you have veered off of your path."

"If you had a problem with it before, you should have come and told me," Rainbowheart started with a bit of irritation. "I'm not getting involved any further than I need to. I'm just training some cats."

"You got involved further when you decided to go to that meeting, instead of drop everything and leave." Dewstar seemed to be growing impatient.

"Nothing bad is going to happen if I have anything to say about it." Rainbowheart was trying to figure out the change in the cat's demeanor. "How do you expect me to make a clan anyway without a medicine cat?"

"Was it not clear when we sent that odd-eyed she-cat to you?" Foxflower seemed to question with surprise it was not obvious.

Rainbowheart blinked. "You mean Star?"

"Yes, Star. She is a very unusual cat, but seems to know enough. It was quite easy to manipulate her involvement to get her to you." Dewstar seemed a little overly proud of his statement. "That aside, I still must insist that you leave as soon as possible. Take some of the loners with you if you can, but I must warn you to not get too involved emotionally in their conflict. You will only be hurt."

The tom was so sure with what he was saying.

Rainbowheart stood her ground, and stared the leader in the eyes, "I will leave when I feel that those cats are ready to fend for themselves. I plan on talking to the cat known as Bloodstorm, to see if he can come to some sort of agreement."

"That cat is a dangerous threat. If you meet with him, you will endanger yourself, and the future generation of your clan," Foxflower tried to reason, eyes drooped.

"It's not like I am going to fight against him. Can't you both see what I'm saying?"

Dewstar hissed in frustration, "Just hurry up and get out of there, before something happens and regrets are all that anyone will feel." The blue-grey tom got up and padded off into the misty night.

Rainbowheart looked to Foxflower for an answer. "What's with him? What's going on Foxflower?" There was something bigger going on. There had to be.

The cat averted her gaze, "It is not my place to say, but remember that whatever happens, it is your decision to make. I will not judge you based on what you do next. Whatever happens happens, whether it's for the better or not." Foxflower suddenly touched her nose to Rainbowheart's and then whispered in her ear, "Only you can decide your clan's, and everyone else's future."

Foxflower got up and began to pad away, being engulfed by the night of StarClan. Rainbowheart was left there by herself, wondering exactly what was going to happen.

* * *

**What _is_****going to happen?**

**Is Blue really a spy?**

**Are Spike and Brick she-cat stalkers?**

**Why does Dewstar have a stick rammed up his ass?**

**All of these answers _might _be answered next time! (half of them might not)**

**:D**


	14. Chapter 14

**So I'm a lotta late on updating here (and I totally had chapters 14-25 already finished a long time ago wth) but better late than never! :"D I'll be posting three chapters each day just so I don't spam people with too much to read. ouo Enjoy!**

* * *

The light of the new day licked at the outside of an old barn that sat close to the edge of the twolegplace, in a large clearing. The paintjob of the outside, worn away by the elements, was now a tannish-pink color, and holes could be seen scattered about the building's exterior. Long abandoned by its owners, the only use it ever had was as storage for hay and whatever other junk the twolegs could fit in there. Barely anyone ever entered the building, save for those who housed their junk in it.

Outside the building, two burly toms stood guard in front of a large hole, near the base of the barn. They were ordered to stand watch, by their leader, while he was absent from the premises. Though it was their job to watch out for intruders, and protect their leader, they were not used to the early morning shifts. However, their leader had not wanted to take any chance of some cat getting the jump on them while he was away.

It was now sunhigh, and their leader was not back yet, which irritated the toms, instead of worry them. One of the toms, a brown one with dark blue eyes, hissed his annoyance, "What's taking him so long?"

His smoky grey companion flexed his long claws, picking up dirt. "Patience Everest, we'll get to sleep when Bloodstorm gets back." He was a bit amused by his companion's display of irritation. Even though he himself was also irritated, he would never willingly show it to any other cat, save for his sister or their companion Scream.

Everest rolled his eyes at the other cat, "Crack, when has Bloodstorm ever let any of us have our allotted time of sleep after doing extra shifts?" He looked at the cat beside him, but turned away after getting a glimpse at the other cat's unmoving milky eye.

Crack chuckled, "Good point. Maybe he'll give us leniency this time. After all, we did bring him that snoop that was hanging around the barn, yesterday."

Everest gave Crack a skeptical look. "Bloodstorm doesn't even give Gold or Havoc those kinds of privileges. We're stuck out here doing morning-to-sunhigh shifts, while he prances around doing who-knows-what."

"If you don't like it Everest, then I can give you morning-to-night shifts instead."

Both toms were suddenly aware of their leader's presence. They had been in such deep conversation, that neither of them had noticed that Bloodstorm, and the few Peace Reapers he took with him, had come back. They snapped their eyes back to the expanse in front of them, which was now full with the bodies of cats.

Everest stammered, "Oh, um, Bloodstorm sir- no I didn't- I was just-"

Bloodstorm flicked an ear, and looked at the tom with cold lavender eyes, "Save it. I'm not in the mood right now. Both of you get inside. Tell Scream and Snow that it's their shift now." With that said the misty tom padded past both guards and disappeared inside the dark hole. Most of the punishers went in after him.

"Nice job Everest," said the spiky-furred black she-cat that had stayed with the toms, "Are you trying to get your pelt skinned? I'm sure Bloodstorm could get Crimson to do it."

"Wow Hiss, I didn't think that you cared so much," Everest shot back jokingly at the cat.

"Oh, I couldn't care less about your disgusting pelt!" the she-cat hissed through her teeth.

Crack shook his head, and muttered, "Why do I even bother being around you two?" He suddenly realized that two other punishers had stayed behind, and were standing a distance away, near a corner of the barn; they seemed to be talking.

He called out to them, "Gem, Bronze, you two should get inside. Bloodstorm will have a fit if he finds you two aren't there."

Both cats seemed to suddenly realize that there were others still outside.

Bronze looked over at Crack, and forced a light smile on his face, "Sorry Crack. We didn't notice that everyone had already gone inside. We'll hurry along now." The brown tabby nudged his young friend, signaling her to move. Both cats walked past the other three cats, not daring to look them in the eyes, and padded inside the wooden complex.

Everest stared after the younger cats in wonder, "What's up with them?"

Hiss rolled her eyes, "Who knows. Those two are always sneaking off somewhere, probably planning on how to escape. It's a wonder that Bloodstorm doesn't confine them to the barn."

"Maybe they're sneaking off because they want some alone time," Everest snickered. The tom stopped, when a thought came to mind. "You know all Bloodstorm wants from the younger ones that he forces to join, are kits. If both parents have a tolerable fighting status, then their kits will obviously be good fighters too. Then it's goodbye to mommy and daddy, if they don't live up to his expectations," he added gravely.

"Well good riddance to those two then. I can't stand their sniveling any longer," Hiss pushed passed Everest and went into the barn.

Everest scoffed, "Your sister is a real piece of fur, you know that?"

Crack shook his head and sighed, "Yes sadly. Come on, before Bloodstorm gets Havoc after us." Both toms then disappeared inside.

Halfway in, Crack took the time to stop and think about the two young cats. He knew that his sister was right about them planning an escape, and most likely she would tell Bloodstorm about them. Crack made a note to himself to warn both of the cats, that they would be watched from now on.

It was wrong, he knew, to interfere with his leader's orders, but he felt that it was unfair to the young cats. Unlike him, his sister, and Scream, who had found sanctuary with the Peace Reapers, both of the young cats had been forced to join.

Crack, like his sister and Scream, were extremely loyal to Bloodstorm, because he had saved them, and gave them a home because of their potential. Gem and Bronze had not been saved, merely swiped away from their lives, and Crack couldn't blame them for planning an escape.

The smoky tom took note that the possibility of escape was higher, now that a few of the loners and kittypets had teamed up with a strange cat that knew how to fight. He hadn't heard much, but from what his sister had told him last night, the strange cat had weird eyes like Bloodstorm, but red. The cat could apparently fight well too.

Bronze, Gem, anyone really who didn't want to be here. They'd most likely try and leave if they thought they'd have a chance.

Crack sighed, and continued on inside, passing by Snow. The white and grey she-cat had most likely been told by Everest that it was her shift. He didn't see Scream with her, so obviously it was up to him to fetch her.

"Snow," he called behind him.

The she-cat stopped in her tracks and turned her poisonous gaze upon him. "Yes Crack?"

The large tom didn't flinch at the other guard's tone. He wouldn't be intimidated by the prickly cat. "Have you seen Scream?"

"The last time I saw her, she was fighting against Split for stealing her food. Havoc told them to stop yelling at each other, and to use the gifts that cats are born with to settle it," Snow said dispassionately.

Crack scoffed, "Split's getting her tail handed to her isn't she?"

Snow blinked a few times, and instead of answering the question, simply turned around and headed back outside to her post.

"Nice talking to you too," Crack muttered under his breath, and he padded off to try and find his friend.

Crack found the pale ginger and white she-cat, in the center of a circle of yowling and cheering cats. Her pelt was a bit bloody in a few places, but it was her opponent that looked far worse. Both Scream and Split looked tired however, despite the extreme difference in blood loss.

Scream stood her ground against her opponent though, not wanting to be the first to back down.

Crack didn't see any of the older guards around, so he took it upon himself to intervene before both cats dropped from exhaustion. "I think that's enough both of you," he made his way past the circling cats, to stand in between the fighting she-cats.

Scream hissed her annoyance, "Crack get out of my way, so I can finish this."

Crack stared at her with his unblinking eyes, "No." He looked from bloodied cat to bloodied cat, "You both have had enough, and I think that this can be ended with the knowledge that Split will never steal your food again, lest she be confronted later by Crimson or Quill. Does that sound fair, Split?"

He gave the ginger cat a long glance, his milky eye sending shivers down the cat's spine.

Split visibly gulped, "Um I- oh yes, yes I shall be more careful in the future Crack- I mean sir."

Crack gave a nod, "Good." He turned to Scream, "You have my shift with Snow, right now."

Scream was about to yell at him for interfering in her fight, but he turned around and fled to the area of the barn in which the food was kept. The tom didn't feel like dealing with his friend's constant problem that he really didn't care about.

Along his way to the food pile, Crack took notice of Gem and Bronze, talking behind a hay bale. At first, he thought that he would go over and give the cats his warning. That's when he noticed Chance, walk over to them.

Crack paused for a moment, watching the half-tailed dark brown tom, as he joined in the hushed conversation. It lasted for a mere couple of minutes, but that's all it took, for Crack to know that the three cats were definitely up to something.

When Chance turned around, Crack made sure that all three cats knew that he had been watching. He sat, motionless and unblinking, causing the secretive cats to freeze in place. Shock and fear flickered across the cats' eyes; something that Crack made sure was the point of his silent accusations.

None of them moved, until Crack finally blinked his one good eye. With a slight motion of his head, he gave them a silent message that he knew they would understand. This would be their one and only warning.

The cats quietly sped off in different directions, leaving Crack to sit and wonder what the cats had talked about.

* * *

"Gem, come and join us won't you?"

The misty furred she-cat gazed up from the rat that she was eating, and looked over at the white she-cat that had called to her. "A-Are you sure, Blitz?"

Gem looked around unsurely, as if she might be jumped at any moment. She was tense now more than ever, after she and the others had been discovered by Crack.

Blitz rolled her green eyes, "Yes I'm sure. Bloodstorm hasn't forbidden guards and punishers to interact."

"Yeah, so come on," said the white tom, who was sharing an unidentifiable piece of food with Blitz. "You're always so tense. You know it's safe here, at least, as long as you don't get in Gold, or Havoc, or Bloodstorm's way."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better Blizzard," Gem mumbled too low for any cat to hear. She couldn't blame them though, for being so casual about being here. They had been taken in when they were young and their parents had abandoned them. But she had been forced to be a Peace Reaper, to be Bloodstorm's tool. If she didn't join, then her best friend and her friend's family would have been killed.

The blue-eyed cat looked around until she spotted the misty grey pelt of Bloodstorm, sitting upon a ladder overlooking his followers. It made her sick, knowing what Bloodstorm's twisted mind might be thinking at that moment. What he had in store for the cat known as Rainbowheart, if he got his claws on her.

If only she could run away, and never look back, she would do it. There would be no greater day, than when she could be free of the Peace Reapers. But deep down, she knew that she couldn't just leave, not without her friends safe. Not without bringing down Bloodstorm.

"Gem?" The she-cat looked up, to stare into the yellow eyes of her only real friend within the Peace Reapers. The brown tom was looking at her with a worried expression, "Is everything ok?"

Gem blinked, and gave a faked smile, "Yeah, sure Bronze."

The older tom wasn't buying it though. He'd known her since she was a kit, running from whatever she had left behind. Bronze normally wasn't one to pry, but he had a sneaking feeling that he knew what was on the young cat's mind.

"It's Hazel, isn't it? You miss her too?" he asked in a whisper.

Gem glanced at her paws, "Yes, but it isn't just that. I'm worried that Crack might tell on us. Oh, things would be so much easier if we had gone out instead of Hazel. I miss how things used to be, with all of us. When Gold wasn't one of these dictators, Silver was wiser and not a pushover, and you and Hazel were there to protect me."

"To think, it only took a moment of you finally standing up to someone more powerful," Bronze muttered.

Gem's eye's snapped up in anger at her friend. She couldn't believe what he had just said. "Are you saying that this is all my fault?" Her blue eyes narrowed suddenly, with a malice that had not been there before. When her claws slid out, she took a step forward.

Bronze immediately regretted what he had just said, and tried to calm down the young cat, "No, I'm not saying that it's your fault. I'm just saying that it was bad timing. If it hadn't been a Peace Reaper, then we might not have gotten in this mess in the first place." The tom was slightly confused by the she-cat's change in demeanor. "Gem? C-calm down."

"Gem!" Bloodstorm called from his place above the other cats. The misty tom carefully made his way down to ground level, and was accompanied by a scarred gold tom and a huge black tom with a white ring of fur around his neck.

Though the leader loved watching his most valuable cats shred the pelts off of others, he couldn't have Bronze killed off just yet. He was an exceptional fighter. "Gold, get ahold of your punisher, before she kills your brother," he ordered the scarred tom. "Havoc, help him. Both of you bring her to me once she's tired out."

"Yes sir," both toms said in unison, and they padded away to try and calm down the enraged cat.

* * *

As Blue padded into the barn, he could hear the yowls and struggles of a confrontation. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to play it safe just in case it was Bloodstorm who was in a rage.

After a moment, though, he identified the raging voice as a she-cat, and he hurried along. He turned a corner around some hay bales, to see Havoc and Gold trying to restrain a cat that he couldn't identify.

"Hmm, is Dusk going on a rampage again?" Blue muttered as he squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at just who the she-cat was, that was giving the two strongest Peace Reapers a hard time. He then noticed the grey-eyed dark brown she-cat, sitting next to Quill. Both cats were looking on at the struggle with Quill enjoying the sight, and Dusk watching impassively. That ruled out the two most psychotic she-cats.

A screech of pain rang out through the barn. Only its familiarity caused Blue to pad a bit closer. It was then that he got a good look at just who the raging cat was. He also saw who had just yowled in pain.

It was Gem, and she had just killed Blue's mate.

It took a moment to register, but a grin spread across Blue's face.

Even though it was his mate who's neck the young, misty cat had bitten into, Blue didn't care at all. Knowing that such a small cat could have such power. It thrilled him. He thought about how such powerful blood could be combined with his, to create even stronger offspring that would be under his influence. If that could happen, then he would be the leader of the Peace Reapers.

Oh ambition, how beautiful it was. Blue had been waiting so long for a chance at power.

Deep inside Blue's head, a plan was forming; a plan that he would set in motion, as soon as possible. Finally he could get moving with what he had always wanted. He scoffed at the idiots who all thought him a nice, simple, kittypet.

All he needed were the right cats to set his plans into motion.

Briefly he thought of the red-eyed cat, Rainbowheart, and thought of how all her efforts were set on teaching the rebel cats. She wasn't going to fight against Bloodstorm though; that had to change. If he could find a way to enrage the she-cat, then it might give him the chance to get rid of Bloodstorm.

When the blue-grey tom suddenly felt like he was being watched, he got ready for a scolding from one of Bloodstorm's loyal "slaves". His muscles tensed, and he forced his face to become unreadable.

"Heh, what do we have here, plotting again are we Blue?" said a pelt-chillingly sweet voice. It was coming from behind Blue, in the shadows away from the other cats' prying eyes.

The voice was familiar to Blue, and a good sign that no one else would be suspecting him at the moment. He allowed his muscles to relax, and slowly turned his head, only allowing one amber eye to glance at the cat that hid in the shadows.

"Why whatever do you mean Crimson? I'm just simply observing our… surprisingly talented comrade," Blue let snicker escape his jaws.

"Oh, well in that case, might I partake in your thoughts on the she-cat?" Bright yellow eyes gleamed from the shadows with a cruel curiosity.

Blue shrugged his shoulders and smiled welcomingly, "I don't see why not. After all, we are both comrades under our great leader, _Bloodstorm_."

The shadows shifted. A tom manifested from them and, padding over, sat next to Blue. His pelt was red-brown, with unusual red splotches scattered about his fur. Upon closer inspection, one could easily identify them as dried blood.

Crimson smiled a full-fanged grin, a sharpened rat bone stuck out from between his teeth. "But soon, it shall be us that are in control, and we will rule."

Blue chuckled in his mind, loving the way that his companion thought. However, for now it was the tiny steps that they would take, until it was time to plan Bloodstorm's fall. Until then, he pushed those plans aside for later. Right now, the most important thing was getting closer to Gem while she was still young, and easy to bend. Then, when she was older, his first step of taking over would be set into motion.

He watched closely, as Havoc and Crack pinned the smaller cat down, while Gold dragged the lifeless body of Blue's dead mate away. He wouldn't miss her, she had been weak and he needed strong kits if he was to take over.

There was no more struggling for the misty she-cat. She was tired, and covered in blood.

Blue looked up to the second floor of the barn, and saw Bloodstorm gazing down at her. Deep down, he knew that his leader had a soft spot for the she-cat, and knew why.

That reason, he surmised, would be Bloodstorm's fall.

* * *

"Had enough have we now?" Bloodstorm glanced down at the tired and bloodied cat, from his perch atop a hay bale. He took in the fact that it was not her blood, but a couple of other cat's blood, that riddled her pelt and claws. One single she-cat had been killed from the confrontation, but Bloodstorm felt no need to care.

These beasts were beneath him, especially the weaker ones. Besides, there had been much less carnage then when he brought Quill or Dusk in to prove themselves. Bloodstorm merely counted himself lucky that Gem hadn't killed any of his good fighters.

Gem however, felt like she would be sick. She hadn't wanted to ever kill anyone, but it had happened anyway. All because she hadn't been in control. Tears were now pouring down from her eyes, and her body convulsed. "I-I don't know what happened."

Bloodstorm noted the cat's actions with a less than sympathetic look, but he knew that she wouldn't stop, unless he gave her what she needed. "Crying won't help, Gem. It never does. Think of this power as not a curse, but an accidental blessing."

Gem glared up at the cruel cat, "How can killing be deemed as a blessing?"

Bloodstorm considered her question, "I do not deem it to be killing, but the power, that is the blessing. I have high hopes for you, as well as that warrior cat when she joins. We are the more superior ones, Gem."

"But my friends-"

"They are not your friends," Bloodstorm stated calmly. "They may seem kind, and understanding, but deep down, you are nothing but a threat to them now. Eventually they will try and kill you, just because you're stronger than them- different. You cannot trust them Gem."

The tom leapt down from the hay bale and circled the young cat. His tail touched the tip of her ear. "But you can trust me. I'm your family, and I will protect you."

Gem took in Bloodstorm's words, "But Hazel and Bronze..."

"Hazel; if she cared about you, then she would have come for you by now don't you think?" Bloodstorm continued in a hushed tone. "And Bronze, he accused you of getting them into this mess didn't he?"

Shock flashed across Gem's eyes.

"Well what else could have set you off? After all, you've been trying so hard to keep your emotions and stress in check. You knew you would snap, and he goes and causes you to end up killing someone."

Gem looked down at her flexing claws digging into wood. Her brain was battling between what she thought and what Bloodstorm said. Deep down she knew that his words were a lure, but the other side of her was saying that he was right.

"They aren't your real friends. They will abandon you because of what you've done," Bloodstorm whispered. "But I am your friend Gem, and I will never let anyone ever hurt you."


	15. Chapter 15

The days passed by quickly, and within that time, Rainbowheart was growing more and more worried. It wasn't the trainees though, that worried her. No, they were doing outstanding from her point of view. It was her last visit from StarClan that worried her. Ever since that night, Dewstar's and Foxflower's words continued to echo in her mind.

It was now the fourth day- the day of her meeting with Bloodstorm. Rainbowheart was sitting down, watching Suzie and Spike perform a tag-team technique on Buck. She was only barely paying attention however. Her mind kept going back to all of the warnings that had been given to her. Just thinking about them gave her the worst foreboding feeling.

"Rainbowheart, they're almost done," Jade, who was sitting next to the warrior, whispered.

"Huh- Oh!" Rainbowheart snapped back to reality, "Sorry, thanks Jade."

The white cat looked at her friend worriedly, "Is everything alright Rainbowheart? You've been a tad distant lately."

Rainbowheart averted her eyes, focusing more on the bout that was ending. "I'm fine, just a little bit tired. I'll be fine though." She smiled approvingly when Suzie and Spike finally pinned Buck to the ground.

"Well if you say so, but you know that you can always talk to me if you've got a problem," Jade said warmly.

"…thanks Jade," Rainbowheart answered, thankful that the cat cared. She touched her nose to Jade's ear in appreciation, before padding off to congratulate the victors.

"Good work you two. Now since it seems that you've all got the technique down, I think that it's time we move on to two-on-two…"

_Oh Rainbowheart, I wish you would tell us what was wrong,_ Jade thought to herself.

She gave a heavy sigh, and padded over to the den. She had not felt like joining in the training today, instead wanting to help Star and Streak take care of the still-healing Shell. She stopped at the entrance to the den, where Rockslide was entertaining Sparrow and Topaz with a story.

"…and the water suddenly flooded down the river, sweeping away everything that was in its reach. I tried to swim away, but it was no use. There was no doubt about it- I was a goner for sure," the old tabby said.

"But you weren't though, you're right here," said Topaz.

"Yeah, so what happened next?" asked Sparrow.

"Oh well you see- Oh, why hello there Jade. Need to pass through do yah?" The old tom got up and moved to the side.

"Just to check up on Shell," said Jade.

"I just gave her some food a bit ago. Think that she might be asleep by now though."

"Well, at least she's eating," Jade looked at her two kits, "Are you being good for Rockslide?"

"You don't need to worry about them giving me trouble. I don't think that I have ever met such well-behaved young ones," Rockslide stated with extra enthusiasm.

"Hmm, neither have I," Jade eyed her kits, "Are you two up to something?"

"No, but Rainbowheart said that if we want to be apprentices, then we have to behave," Sparrow said smiling.

"I can't wait to be an apprentice!" Topaz jumped up on all fours.

"I can't wait to be in a clan," Sparrow joined in her brother's excitement.

Rockslide seemed a bit puzzled, "What's so great about being in a clan?"

"Are you serious?" Chris padded over from the training group. Everyone was exempt from training for the rest of the day, due to the meeting later on. "A clan is about being free. Being great in your own way. Defending your clan and friends, and training others to be great and cool and awesome." The young tom gave his fur an embarrassed lick, "At least, that's what I think..."

"So you're in a clan?" Rockslide asked.

"Umm… no, not exactly. But I've heard from Rainbowheart about the clans that she came from. She's gonna create a clan after she helps us beat Bloodstorm," Chris exclaimed enthusiastically, tail swishing.

"She's not going to help us beat Bloodstorm Chris." Buck had padded over to join in the conversation. "All she's doing is training us, and then she's leaving. Nothing more than that."

"But she can't leave. We need more trained cats to fight him," Chris said, whining. His ears flattened against his head.

Buck shook his head, "Well it looks like we've got no other choice. I've already talked to her, and she has yet to change her mind."

Jade could see anger shining in Bucks eyes. "Please, don't be mad at her for her decision Buck." All eyes were on her. "She is not one to fight without a good reason, I can tell."

Rockslide took a keen interest. "But she says that she is a warrior. Warriors are supposed to fight aren't they? I mean, look around, she's training you lot to fight."

"Yes she's training us how to fight. But has she ever mentioned anything about killing?" Jade pointed out the one thing that no one had thought of.

"She doesn't want to be responsible for any deaths?" Buck questioned, shaking his head, "There is no way we'd get through a fight without killing some of those blasted monsters."

Jade frowned, "She does not want lives taken, and I'm sure some of the others would agree with her. I do not want anyone to die either, honestly. "

"But lives have already been taken. Granted they aren't all taken by the strike of claws, but they are still lives lost." Buck stared at Jade, "Can't you see that? Can't anyone see that?"

She cocked her head, "Buck, you're going to get yourself into trouble one day if you don't think things through. You're a good cat, but you need to consider others' feelings too. Do not be so quick to judge others, just because of their refusal to your demands." She got up and went into the den to check up on Shell.

Buck didn't know what to think at the moment. He sighed, "I guess we will have to wait then. Rockslide have you seen Hazel?" He directed his attention to the older tom.

"I think that she said something about practicing her hunting skills. Last I saw her, she had gone past the stump," said Rockslide.

Since the number of cats staying in the den had accumulated- Hazel and her family, along with Cliff, Hampton, and Star were permanent residents at the moment- each of the cats staying had to do a fair share of work. So Rainbowheart had been giving the extra guests, extra hunting exercises to practice.

"Thank you. I better go get her. Rainbowheart said something about wanting to see how her hunting techniques were coming along, before we leave for the meeting." Buck turned around and left to find the she-cat.

Chris slumped over on his side when Buck left. "Hey Rockslide?" He didn't look at the old cat, but was watching the kits, who had become disinterested in all of the talk and were now play-fighting.

"Hm?" grunted the old tabby.

"Where do you plan on going after Bloodstorm is beaten?" questioned the young cat.

"Well I suppose my family and I would go back to living where we were before," came Rockslide's the reply.

"And… what if this doesn't work? What if Bloodstorm is still in control? Where would you and your family go?" Chris was staring at the ground in front of his paws.

Rockslide was perplexed by the young cat's unusual question. "That's not like you to be asking such a question Chris. Are you ok?" The old tom was genuinely concerned. Even though he had known Chris for only a few days, he knew enough to know that something was troubling him.

Chris sheathed and unsheathed his small claws, "I just… have this bad feeling." He was silent for a minute or two, before he spoke up again, "You didn't answer my question. Where do you plan on going, if Bloodstorm stays in control?"

"I don't know." Rockslide genuinely had no clue where he would take his family. Obviously they would need to find another twolegplace to live in. At his and Shell's age though, it would be tough. He didn't want them all living near the Peace Reapers any long though.

Thinking about the question made him a bit curious, and he asked the same thing to Chris, "Where would you go?"

Chris had no idea either. He was still pretty young, and he knew that the Peace Reapers already knew who was training with Rainbowheart. Although Chris was still a scrap of fur, he knew that if Bloodstorm won it out against them he would drive out or kill all of them. There was however, another option that he was considering, instead of lucking it out on his own. "I… well I was thinking... that I might join Rainbowheart, Streak, Jade, and the kits."

"You mean be in a clan?" Rockslide questioned.

"Yeah, I mean from what Rainbowheart tells us, a clan works together to survive. The strong fight for and feed the weak. Everyone helps each other, and no one is left to fend for themselves," Chris said, flicking an ear.

"Hmm… sounds nice," Rockslide responded. Hearing what Chris had said, made him think carefully.

"I know. That's why afterwards, I think that I might-"

"Alright everyone, it's time!" Buck shouted from the center of the clearing.

"Guess that's me," Chris muttered. He got up, but dipped his head to Rockslide, "Thank you for listening Rockslide."

"You just make sure to help protect the others young one," Rockslide said.

Chris smiled, and then padded over to join the growing group of cats.

Suddenly, as Rockslide gazed at the assembly of cats, a shimmering form appeared out of the corner of his vision. He squinted, knowing very well his eyesight was terrible these days. "What in the sky's name…"

The cat he was seeing, appeared to be a blue-grey tom glaring at the group. At first Rockslide thought it was Blue, but realized otherwise. The sudden appearance of the cat startled him, but just as he was about to call out to the others, the cat vanished. Just as quickly and suddenly as he had appeared.

This sent a chill up Rockslide's spine. "Be safe, all of you," he muttered quietly as he trailed inside the den.

* * *

All of the cats who weren't going to the meeting had already gone home. Using the time they had before the meeting, Rainbowheart went over a few things. "So Brick and Chris, you both will continue following Blue. You said that you've seen him talking to a few Peace Reapers?"

Brick nodded in confirmation, "Yes he has."

"He doesn't seem to know that we're following him either," added Chris with a hint of pride.

"Alright then, both of you will keep an eye on him. Since he has no clue that we know about his little secret, he'll most likely not be at the meeting. As for the rest of us," Rainbowheart addressed the others, "No one is to start a fight, or cause any reason for Bloodstorm to be suspicious. Though I know, hostility towards the Peace Reapers is unavoidable, please don't use your claws to show it."

"I still think that you're out of your mind," Hampton commented. "Bloodstorm won't care if we don't start the fight. He'll start it himself."

"I agree with Hampton," Apple said. The tom never really spoke, so it caused him to gain a lot of attention. "Look, I know that you want to get through this whole thing without bloodshed, but that isn't really going to be an option for us." He stopped for a moment, not knowing if he should go on.

"Please continue," Rainbowheart was interested in what the tom had to say.

"I um… well you see Bloodstorm only thinks one way, and that way is with his claws. He doesn't see things with reason. He doesn't show others kindness, only what his power can do if you don't bend to his will. I know this all too well, too, because I was one of the first to stand up to him," Apple stated quietly. He looked Rainbowheart straight in the eyes. "I don't know what you think that you can accomplish, no disrespect, but the only way that that cat will see any reason, is to beat him. Hard and mercilessly if necessary."

Rainbowheart was taken by surprise, in Apple's sudden aggression. Looking deep in his eyes, she could only imagine a much younger and happier cat once resided. One filled with hope, and determination. The cat before her now, seemed aged with bad experience. This cat's young spirit had been long broken.

"If my way does not work Apple, then you all can take into consideration your statement," Rainbowheart said, turning away from him.

The warrior glanced around at the assembly of cats. All of the loners were going, except for Hazel, who would stay behind with Jade and Rockslide to look after Shell and the kits.

"Ok, let's go."


	16. Chapter 16

The patrol of cats walked quickly and surely to their destination, anxious to get there, and get back to their dens when it was done with. Rainbowheart led the way, with Streak and Buck flanking each side of her. The sun was beginning to set, and Rainbowheart silently prayed that the night wouldn't turn out badly.

The warrior knew that it was possibly a trap, and that Blue was possibly divulging secrets of them to the Peace Reapers. Complying with Bloodstorm's request had been the result of a threat though. There was no choice but to go and get it over with.

From what Buck and Hampton had told her, there were three main cats in the Peace Reapers. They all got by with being ruthless and smart, making them natural leaders-slash-dictators. Bloodstorm was number one.

The main guard known as Havoc was number two. He was described as a big black tom with a white ring of fur around his neck and blue eyes. The tom was supposed to be as ruthless as Bloodstorm himself, and that made Rainbowheart shutter. Buck had told her that he was also second in command if Bloodstorm were to be absent at some point, and was a very loyal follower of him.

The main punisher known as Gold was number three, and could be distinguished by his golden tabby pelt and scars along his back. Rainbowheart remembered seeing him when Bloodstorm made himself known to her. He was characterized by his intelligence, and often would be sent out to track down those that dared to cross Bloodstorm.

They walked on until they got to where the rendezvous was. Three cats were waiting for them. None except one looked friendly. Stopping in front of them, Rainbowheart could identify Hiss as one of the cats which sat on the left side of a smoky tom with large paws and blue eyes.

The tom was the one who looked friendly, but it looked as if something was wrong with one of his eyes. It didn't move at all and, if it hadn't just hit Rainbowheart that he was blind in that eye, it would have creeped her out.

The last cat, who looked about as friendly as a fox, was a she-cat with dark brown fur, though one might mistake it for black. Her yellow eyes and dark looking expression reminded her of Quill.

_What in the name of StarClan is wrong with these cats,_ Rainbowheart thought. She dipped her head to the tom and, with a placid expression spoke, "You must be our escorts. It's a pleasure to meet you." Though she didn't want to, Rainbowheart acted polite to them.

At least, to this one.

The grey cat nodded, "The pleasure is all mine. My name is Crack, this is Dusk," he motioned to the dark brown cat, who narrowed her eyes at the bigger group of cats. "And this is my sister Hiss. From what I've heard, you two have already met."

Hiss growled lowly, but still loud enough for all to hear.

Ignoring Hiss' growling, Rainbowheart looked at their escorts curiously, "Bloodstorm said that there would only be two cats to escort us, not three."

"He was going to send these two by themselves, but thought better of it, and decided that a guard was more level headed." He looked up as if in thought, "I think he said something about not wanting his reputation tarnished by a couple of thick-heads who'd attack a piece of trash if it crossed their path." He looked amusedly at Hiss who took a really harsh swipe at him.

Crack dodged, and turned to start on the path they would take. He looked around at the others, his expression was serious now, "Follow me, and make sure to keep up."

It didn't take that long to reach the Peace Reaper hideout. In fact it was in plain sight, not hidden. An old abandoned barn that sat between the twolegplace and forest. Rainbowheart could see that it had started to deteriorate; boards were missing from the bottom, creating doors for all sorts of creatures, and the red paint that had decorated it had sunk into the wood.

Stopping outside of one of the openings, Rainbowheart could hear voices inside. Whispers and sadistic sounding chuckles echoed off the walls inside, and reached the ears of the guests outside. The warrior's pelt prickled with anxiousness while they waited for Crack, who had told them to wait where they were. When the guard came back, Bloodstorm was with him.

The misty leader looked around at his visitors and laid his gaze on Rainbowheart. He smiled at her, "Well, it seems that you took my advice and decided to show. And just look at how many friends you brought. I could have sworn though, that you would have had more than this, at least, that's what I've been told." He smirked darkly.

Rainbowheart narrowed her eyes at Bloodstorm, looking him in his dark purple eyes, "I came as agreed. Now what do you want?"

"First, how about we get inside and I'll introduce you to a few of my friends. After all this is a meeting." Bloodstorm then turned to Crack and the other two cats, nodding to them and they went inside. He then motioned to Rainbowheart, "Come right in."

Rainbowheart looked after him curiously, but after a brief pause, she went into the dark hole, followed closely by the others. It was dark at first, and Rainbowheart realized that they were going through a small tunnel created by the stacking of old hay bales, and other twoleg objects.

All members of the patrol filed in, passing a large brown tom that was positioned next to a hay bale. When Rainbowheart looked at him, he narrowed his eyes and dipped his head to her.

_He must be a guard; he's sure big enough to be one. _She had kept walking, but didn't look away from the tom. Something in his eyes made her feel pity.

"Taking an interest in the toms of my group?"

Rainbowheart nearly jumped to StarClan when Bloodstorm appeared near her side. Everyone else in the patrol had dispersed to check the place out, and to find others who might be of help to their cause.

The black-faced tom eyed the warrior curiously, his pelt brushing a little too close against hers. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He sensed this and smiled, "Because I can assure you, there are plenty of interesting toms here."

He had leaned closer to Rainbowheart, causing the warrior to nearly trip over her own paws. They had stopped walking.

The tom chuckled, and Rainbowheart glared at him. _I'm being used as his source of amusement. Is this all we were summoned for? To be humiliated, _she thought to herself. She hissed, and as a way to ignore him, she began to look around the barn.

There were many cats here and there. Big cats that could only be guards, sat near all of the entrances. Rainbowheart could see some of her friends talking amongst themselves, but then noticed Apple and Meera talking to the two cats that Hazel had stared at longingly, just days ago.

Both Peace Reaper cats were talking with distressed expression, obviously giving some sort of bad news to the warrior's companions. They then walked off to some other location.

The red-eyed warrior already knew the story behind Bronze and Gem. Even from afar, she could tell that they were miserable.

Bloodstorm must have seen his guest's interest in the two cats, because he spoke up, "I see you're interested in the former friends of that weakling that you helped the other day."

Rainbowheart snapped her head back towards him to gaze at him angrily.

The misty tom wasn't looking at her so ignored the burning look he was getting, and went on, "Their names are Gem and Bronze, though I'm sure you know that already. Bronze is the brother of the leader of my punishers. Both he and Gem are punishers, though Gem is really nothing to my group. She's too kind most of the time, which makes her weak."

"Then why keep her around?" Rainbowheart asked coldly.

The misty tom gave a grim smile, "Because, it's when she's maddest that she's the strongest, just like me. I can guarantee you must be like that too, right?"

The warrior was confused by the evil tom's words, "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. When you can't control your anger. I can see it in your eyes, you're just like me." The tom was closer now, gazing into Rainbowheart's eyes.

Rainbowheart was taken aback by the tom's words, and something clicked. It was an impossible thought to say the least. She silently gasped, "You're reborn..."

Bloodstorm didn't answer, but he didn't have to, for Rainbowheart to know it was true. The misty furred tom then got up and motioned for her to follow him somewhere else. Rainbowheart hesitated for a minute in mid-step, but then conceded to trail after him.

As she followed him, Rainbowheart noticed Gem had appeared and began following them.

Bloodstorm looked over his shoulder to make sure Rainbowheart was there, and then turned back forward to jump the hay bales that were stacked like a ladder to get up to the loft of the barn.

Gem shadowed her leader, and vanished along with him.

Rainbowheart stopped when she reached the bales, noticing her comrades giving her wary glances. She reassured them with a quick nod before going up into the loft.

Once in the loft, Rainbowheart was greeted kindly by Gem, and surprisingly Bloodstorm dipped his head. This confused the warrior greatly. However, she took this as a good sign she wouldn't be attacked or killed.

Bloodstorm beckoned for her to come towards him, which she did and cautiously sat down in front of him. Gem sat close by them both, though her presence here baffled Rainbowheart.

"My dear Gem, this is the one that I talked about. She is like me; like us. Fate has led her here so that she may help us rise up in power," the tom spoke with a calm voice that held the hint of a smile in it.

This. The warrior hadn't expected this, and Rainbowheart immediately didn't like where this was going, "Excuse me, but what are you talking about?"

Instead of getting some snide comment that she expected of the leader, he merely gave her a considering look, before explaining. "You see, I'm much like you, and I think you know how."

He took a breath before going on, "The way I see it, you and I are more powerful than these fleabags around us that follow our commands. They don't deserve to govern themselves."

Bloodstorm smiled sadistically, "We both are unnatural. Don't deny you don't know what I'm talking about either. You must have lived in exile for a while, like me. Wouldn't you like to finally have an important place? It's so simple to just join your own, isn't it?" He stopped to burn his gaze through the red-eyed cat.

Rainbowheart had been listening through the whole of his ramble. "And where does Gem come into this?" She had to ask that question.

"Hnf, a little predicament occurred at a sad point in my life. My little Gem here, is the result. It took me a while to track her down, but she's here with me once more," Bloodstorm explained, flicking an ear. "She's like us, and gained my superior strength. It's quite the show to see when she goes off."

The information being relayed surprised Rainbowheart to the fullest. The warrior shook her head, disgusted, "You're crazy. I think my decision is clearly 'no'."

Bloodstorm had been smiling invitingly at her, but that quickly changed to confusion, and then anger. He stuttered, "E-Eexcuse me?" He stood up and unsheathed his claws.

Rainbowheart made eye contact with him, showing that she wouldn't be daunted by his actions. "I said that I won't join you. You might want to act like a sadistic whining baby, but that doesn't mean I have to. Unlike you, I'm going to live my life in peace and happiness, not chaos and anger."

The black-and-white she-cat was now standing up to meet Bloodstorm's stance, "I'm not going to betray my path to scum like you." She gave a challenging glare, "So just try and make me join you."

The misty tom had stepped forward, glaring at this cat who had dared to degrade him in front of one of his followers. "You'll wish you had never said those words you overconfident brat," he spat out, then leapt at the warrior.

Rainbowheart was ready for him though, and met him mid-leap, making both fall to the ground with a thump. Both cats rolled around in the hay and dust on the wood, clawing at each other, unable to land a crippling blow.

Gem meanwhile had moved, not wanting to be involved. The she-cat looked on in distress, not knowing if she should help the black-and-white she-cat out or not. If she did though, Bloodstorm might do something terrible to her instead. She just stood there, not knowing what to do.

Getting tired of their current situation, the fighting cats broke apart to get some rest. They carefully eyed each other from opposite sides.

Bloodstorm gave a smirk from his position, "See how powerful you are when you let your true spirit take over. Those idiots down there don't deserve to have your help. Join me, and you'll be able to rule over them all."

Rainbowheart hissed, "I'd rather die."

The purple-eyed cat hardened his gaze and spat back, "So be it then. HA!" He leapt again, but this time Rainbowheart moved out of the way, causing him to almost land on his face. Stumbling back up, he turned around again to take a swipe at her face, nearly hitting his target.

Rainbowheart sidestepped to the left when Bloodstorm shot forward, and slammed her paw against his face, making him roll closer towards Gem. Taking deep breaths, Rainbowheart circled her misty foe. "Give this up Bloodstorm. It's pointless what you're doing. You can avoid this conflict if you just stop now."

The purple eyed cat was panting hard, glaring at his opponent. Slowly and shakily he got up on his legs. He clenched his jaws shut, making blood drip from the sides of his mouth. "Shut up! You haven't won yet." He gave a crazed looking smile and licked his jaws free of the blood, seeming to enjoy the taste.

"Havoc! Gold!" he yowled loudly.

Yowls from one of the entrances got the red-eyed warrior's attention. As she glanced down below, her heart stopped for a second.

A big black tom had padded in with a blood-stained Chris in his jaws, dragging him along the ground roughly. Close behind them were two other Peace Reapers along with Gold, escorting in a battered up Brick, and surprisingly a very smug looking Blue.

Rainbowheart could hear Bloodstorm chuckling not far behind her.

"I believe those two belong to you. Some of my Peace Reapers stumbled upon them spying on my spy. They would have succeeded too, if it hadn't been for their scent being discovered by one of my punishers, two days ago."

The she-cat spat at him before jumping down the hay bales, and running towards the cats that had her friends, the others joining her midway.

The big black tom had noticed her coming, and roughly threw Chris to the ground. The poor scrap tried to get up to fight back. Havoc saw this and pushed him back down to the ground, pinning him there with his claws dug deep in his side.

Havoc leaned in close to the younger cat, "Such a pathetic thing you are. It's going to be fun killing you." He sank his claws deeper into Chris' side, causing the poor cat to writhe in pain.

Brick tried to get past the punishers in front of him, to get to the younger cat, but they pinned him to the ground. "Let him go you rat-face! Fight me!"

Among the yelling, Rainbowheart had lunged at Havoc, aiming for his face. She was quickly brought down by Gold, who had jumped at her however. The she-cat fell hard to the ground with a thud.

Her group of cats surrounded her in protective stances, daring someone to try and get past them.

Rainbowheart looked around, when she heard paw steps from behind her, and hissed at Bloodstorm, who was padding closer.

"Let. Them. Go. Now," Rainbowheart got up on her paws, willing to keep herself from attacking the sadistic cat before her.

"Heh, apparently you haven't realized the position that you're in." Bloodstorm gazed around at his cats that obviously outnumbered the small band of cats.

He looked back at Rainbowheart, "Now here's what's going to happen: you and your little rat pack are going to get out of here. Then, you are going to leave this place behind and continue on your way, and forget everything about this place. If you don't, then every single one of these cats here is going to be exterminated, one by one."

A grin formed on the tom's arrogant face, "But first, how about a little incentive to hurry things along. After all, we wouldn't want to have you wasting time over-thinking, and your friends dying as a result." Looking over Rainbowheart, Bloodstorm gave a nod to Havoc, "End him."

Rainbowheart's eyes widened and she turned around to see Havoc raising his claws above Chris. The small cat tried to move out of the way.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment.

All of a sudden, everyone's voices except her own seemed to go mute to Rainbowheart's ears.

"NO!"

No words could stop it, however.

It was all over within seconds, Havoc having dealt the blow to the splotched tom. Chris was left where he was lying, coughing and sputtering miserably. His flank moved up and down sporadically.

Havoc, satisfied with his work, walked past the shocked cats, to stand near his leader's side. The others guarding Brick, got off of him, and did the same as the black tom.

Bloodstorm looked at the scene with satisfaction, "I'll give you one day to get out of here. After that, if you're still training these cats, I may just have to go after more vulnerable and loved targets, like those kits and their mother."

With that said Bloodstorm got up and walked out of the barn, taking most of his Peace Reapers with him, leaving behind the distraught group of cats.

In her mind, the warrior kept repeating the same thing over and over. _This shouldn't have happened. This shouldn't have happened. This shouldn't have happened._

_StarClan, why did this happen..._


	17. Chapter 17

Rainbowheart watched the small body of the young cat as his sides moved up and down with each spasm that shook the poor scrap. Her paws were planted firmly to the ground, keeping her standing in place. Her eyes were wide, and her mind focused on nothing else but the bleeding young tom.

The others of her group were shouting at her, trying to wake her up from her stupor. To the warrior's ears though, her friends' voices remained muted. Without her knowing though, she slowly but surely, began to pad over to the wounded Chris.

Suddenly, the sound that fought to gain entrance to her ears broke through, and everything came tackling her senses. She was suddenly aware of the chaos behind her, her friends telling her to do something for the splotched tom. It was during this moment, that Chris' voice rang through, and silenced the others.

"Rain-Rainbowheart?"

She could hear the desperation in his voice, causing her to run the rest of the way to his side. Standing beside his shrinking and expanding form.

"Star, come here and help him!" Rainbowheart shouted over her shoulder to the white-faced she-cat.

Star had padded over quickly, along with the rest of the cats. All she needed was one look to know that the cat was not going to make it. Her eyes half-lidded, she shook her head. No words were needed to interpret the gesture.

Upon seeing the cats he trained with were there beside him, Chris gave them a remorseful look. "I'm sorry everyone. I really messed up..." He coughed, spitting up blood in the process.

Brick, who sat closest to the cat, quietly shook his head at Chris' statement. "Don't be mouse-brained I-I should have been watching you... Nobody is... is to blame but me."

The young tom gave Brick a weak smile, and closed his eyes.

The young tom's flank moved up and down harshly. It wouldn't be long though before he was gone. Without opening his eyes, Chris spoke soft and evenly, so as not to force his end closer. "I hoped that I would be around longer to… to join your clan Rainbowheart. If we were beaten... I wanted us all to live together. You've all been friends to me..."

Several eyes widened, as the young cat went on.

"Would you all do me one last favor...?"

"Anything," Rainbowheart managed out, eyes wet. The others nodded in agreement, with Brick whispering out.

"Whatever you want, Chris..."

Chris opened his hazy looking eyes. "Could you please... make me a warrior?" He was talking with struggling breaths, "I wanted to join... but I can't. I'll never be an apprentice now. I... I want to be remembered. I want... to be cheered for... while I'm still here... Please..."

Rainbowheart silenced him by touching her nose to his flank in understanding. She rose back up to meet his eyes which looked up at her with silent gratification.

Taking a quick look at the others, she began with shaky breath, " I-I... I call upon StarClan..." She stopped, trying to search for the words she needed. The warrior naming ceremony just wasn't coming to her.

The black-and-white cat looked down at the cat who's life slipped away with each second that passed. Looking into those color-drained eyes suddenly brought a calm to her.

"I'm sorry that I can't seem to remember the words," she started, "It doesn't matter though..." The warrior leaned forward and touched her muzzle to Chris' head. "Your name shall forever be known as... Spiritjump. We will honor your courage... and sacrifice."

By this time, Chris' body had stopped moving. All was silent for the moment, with the rest of the cats dipping their heads in sorrow.

The warrior didn't look up at the others at first.

"He... He said he wanted cheering..."

Rainbowheart's ears pricked up, and her gaze slowly turned to Brick.

"Why aren't... any of you cheering?" The red-brown tom was shaking slightly, eyes trained on the dead cat. "Don't you... don't you care that our friend is dead, and that he wanted us cheering his name?!"

"Spiritjump."

Brick slowly looked up when Rainbowheart spoke. He blinked his eyes, echoing the other cat's words. "Spiritjump."

The rest of the cats looked at each other, unsure at first until they slowly caught on.

"Spiritjump. Spiritjump! Spiritjump! Spiritjump, Spiritjump, Spiritjump!"

Rainbowheart stopped cheering with the others, sighing in sadness as the voices echoed around.

_"Thank you all..."_

The warrior's ear flicked at the familiar voice. She didn't say anything, just watched as the cheering died down for the young cat.

Most of the Peace Reapers had left them to themselves, while some had remained in the shadows of the barn.

When Rainbowheart remembered what Bloodstorm had said to her, she stood up from where she sat. They needed to go. She motioned to the others that they were leaving, asking Buck to carry Spiritjump' body back.

"I'll do it," Brick spoke up, laying down to accept the corpse on his back. The red-brown cat grunted when he felt the weight hit him. He ignored it though, and stood up telling the others he was ready to go.

They all departed with lowered heads.

* * *

Silence had engulfed the group all of the way to their destination. It helped to enhance the eeriness that continued to pry the cats from their misery. Above them was a crescent moon that taunted the sorrowed cats with its gleeful, unwanted smile. This was not a time for happiness though, and the cats paid the glowing object little to no attention.

They continued on, until they broke through the brush that camouflaged the clearing. Abruptly, everyone stopped. Rainbowheart could see, and hear, a couple of shadowy figures on the outside of the den entrance. Gathering herself, she sighed, and padded closer to the shadowed cats that, upon hearing the patrol coming, stopped their chatting.

One of the cats, which Rainbowheart identified as Jade, broke away from the shadows to come and meet the others. Rockslide and Hazel soon followed.

At first the pure white she-cat looked, concerned, at the limp body on her Brick's back, but then it changed to one of horror, and she stopped in her tracks.

Hazel had taken notice of the grave looks everyone wore and, noticing Spiritjump's lifeless form gasped, "Oh no." She carefully padded up and pressed her nose to the body, and then pulled away when she felt the coldness beneath his pelt. Backing up, she touched her pelt against her father, who touched his nose to her head comfortingly.

Jade, with sadness in her amber eyes, stalked back in the direction of the den, "I better go get the others up." Her voice was almost a whisper, but it was loud enough to hear.

The others nodded, though knowing she couldn't see them.

Hazel watched as the white she-cat vanished into the hole, "Those poor kits are going to be devastated. They seemed to really adore him..."

Rockslide gave a reassuring lick to her head, before he padded over to Rainbowheart.

The old tabby coughed, getting Rainbowheart's attention. "Would… would you like us to do anything...?" Rockslide felt deeply saddened inside, remembering the last conversation he'd had with the deceased tom. He felt obligated to help.

Rainbowheart pondered the brown tom's question for a moment, and then dipped her head. "If it isn't too much trouble, we'd like to bury him. Could you clean him up? I... I don't think I have it in me..." she said in a low tone.

Carefully, Brick rolled Spiritjump's body off of his back, and onto the ground. He then dipped his head to Rockslide before padding a few feet away to sit alone.

"But mom, he isn't dead."

Everyone looked over to see Jade leading the kits and Shell over to them.

Topaz was looking at his mother in distress. "I just saw him, in the burrow."

"Me too, I saw him too. It has to be true if both of us saw him right?" Sparrow was trying to help defend their case.

Rainbowheart could hear some of the others muttering among themselves words of sadness for the kits. Spiritjump had been closest in age to the kits, and had been something of a playmate.

"You're all just trying to-," Topaz had stopped talking as soon as he saw the body on the ground. Sparrow followed her brother's gaze, and froze in place.

Both kits dashed to the lifeless body, prodding and nudging for the cat to get up, assuming he was playing a joke. Upon realizing the truth, they stopped and lowered their heads to cry, while Jade wrapped her tail around them and whispered words of comfort.

When Spiritjump's fur had been cleaned, Rainbowheart called for a vigil, and everyone present sat beside the lost cat's body. It had been explained to them all, that they could go home for the night. It did not matter to them though. They all stayed until the moon was ready to sleep, mourning the loss of their comrade.

When everyone was done paying their respects, Rainbowheart asked Shell and Rockslide if they could help her bury Spiritjump. "In a clan, the elders would be the ones to bury the dead, but since we are not a clan, and you are the oldest cats here, I wish to ask of your services please." She bowed her head in respect to the much older cats.

"Well of course we'll help. You helped us, and it's the least we can do for him. If it's one thing that we know, it's that the dead deserve better than being crow-food."

Rainbowheart looked up at Shell.

The old she-cat's blue eyes shone with understanding. She seemed much more fit now, than any of the other days that Rainbowheart had seen her. "Now you go on, talk to the others. We'll bury him behind the stump. You don't need to exert yourself. I can tell that you and the others been through enough already." She gave a shooing motion with her paw.

Rainbowheart gave a small, thankful smile and nodded, then got up and turned in the direction of the others.

Rainbowheart let Shell and Rockslide do their work, while she padded over to where Streak and Star were talking with a tired-looking Brick. When they noticed the other cat's presence, they all dipped their heads.

The black-and-white cat didn't bother with returning the gesture, being too weary, and just went on to questioning the red furred tom. "Whatever happened out there, I don't blame either of you. If you'll please, tell me what happened."

Brick stared at his paws for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He looked pretty worn out himself, and had dried blood around the scratches he had received from the punishers. When he finally looked back up to stare into the red eyes of the she-cat, he was far off into the past events of last night.

"We had followed Blue, just like you told us to do. He hadn't been doing much, just lazing around his twoleg nest, so we waited for a while in some nearby bushes. When nothing new happened, Spiritjump and I began talking."

"We weren't talking loud, so no one could have heard us, but we hadn't been paying attention to Blue. When we turned back, he was gone, and out of sight. We panicked, and began searching around quietly for him, but without luck. Then, Spiritjump yelled over to me, that he had found him, and ran."

"It seemed as if Blue had spotted us, and that was why he was running, so he could tell the Peace Reapers. Then I noticed that he seemed to be leading us on..." Brick paused to gather his thoughts.

"Go on," Rainbowheart insisted.

Brick nodded, "I-I immediately yelled for Spiritjump to stop, but he was already around a corner. I sped around it and had nearly crashed into him. When I looked back up, the punishers were around us already. Blue was with them."

"After that they sent for Havoc, and beat us up a bit until he got there with Gold. We tried to fight back. We needed to fight back, to try and run… but they had us pinned down. We couldn't get away..."

Brick stopped. He clenched his jaws together, "It should have been me that died, not him. He had so much that he was going to do. I should have protected him Rainbowheart… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The red-brown tom let out the anguish that he had bottled up all night. Star and Streak soothed the distraught cat. The blue-grey she-cat let the tom's head rest on her shoulder, while Streak tried to talk him down.

Star gazed at Rainbowheart, "Don't worry we'll take care of him. We need to treat his wounds anyway." She narrowed her eyes, focusing on Rainbowheart's pelt, "Speaking of which, it looks like that brute did a number to your beautiful fur."

Rainbowheart licked her chest fur in embarrassment, and was about to try and shake off the worrying cat. She thought better of it though. There was no need to pointlessly argue about treatment. "Right, I think I'll go wait in the den to be treated, then."

The warrior padded away, entering the den and laying down on a moss bed.

Star came in moments later with Streak and Brick trailing behind.

The odd eyed she-cat stopped next to Rainbowheart's side and set some herbs down on the ground. "Alright, let's see how deep these wounds are."

She began sniffing and poking, trying to determine what to do. When she was done with the checkup, she began chewing up the herbs and placing them on the black and white cat's pelt, while simultaneously quizzing Streak on how to use them and where to place them.

It had become apparent to Rainbowheart, that Star was quite knowledgeable in herbs as StarClan had given hint to. The blue-grey she-cat had done wonders with treating an eye wound Blair had gotten from tripping during a race with Streak. Not to mention, being of great help with Shell's recovery.

If Rainbowheart had to leave, she silently wondered if this cat would go with her and the others.

She suppressed a hiss, when Streak began to put some of the chewed herbs on a rather deep and tender wound near her shoulder.

Streak flinched back and looked worriedly at her friend, "I'm sorry, did that sting?"

Rainbowheart unclenched her teeth, and shook her head, "I'm good. Go on with what you were doing. That rat-faced jerk must have hit deeper than I thought."

Streak hesitated for a moment, but then went back to putting the gunk back on the wound.

"Whatever happened to 'not starting a fight'?" Star commented dryly.

"Oh ha-ha very fun-OW!" Rainbowheart glared at Streak. The black cat gave her another apologizing look, and Rainbowheart let it slide.

Thinking about the vile cat now brought Rainbowheart back to thinking about what Bloodstorm had said. She knew that she would have to come to a decision, but would have to wait for the kittypets before she could voice it. The final choice though, would be the one that didn't get the others killed.

"Okay, all done."

Star and Streak had finished putting the ointment on both Rainbowheart's and Brick's pelts, and were now examining their work to make sure they didn't miss anything. Seeing that no scratch was missed, they began to clean up the mess that they had made.

Rainbowheart meanwhile, was staring over at Brick, who was sniffing at the paw that had medicine on it. She suppressed a chuckle when he scrunched up his face in disgust.

"Ugh, this stuff smells terrible."

"Heh, it's for healing, Brick, not eating. It doesn't have to smell good." Rainbowheart got up and began to head for the exit, when Star appeared in front of her, blocking the way out. Rainbowheart gave a discouraged look, while the blue-grey she-cat shook her head.

"Oh no you don't. You and Brick are staying here and resting."

"But—"

"No buts, you both are injured. There's still some time to sleep before sunhigh comes, and then we shall wake you." Star twitched her tail, pointing in the direction of two fresh nests that were in the corner.

Brick had already headed over to his nest without complaining, unlike the black and white warrior.

Rainbowheart sighed, following suit, and padded over to get into the other nest. She laid down and with a huff glared at Star before closing her eyes.

A satisfied Star gave a curt nod to them, and then left.

Streak followed her out, but stopped and looked back at the two cats. "Please just stay there. You both need rest more than anybody right now." Without waiting for a reply, she promptly left, leaving both injured cats to their sleep.

* * *

Rainbowheart opened her eyes, finding herself in the forest of StarClan.

_Why am I here now….? Did Foxflower and Dewstar want me?_

Getting up, she immediately began scenting for the StarClan cats that she usually spoke with. After a couple of minutes, Rainbowheart picked up on the voices of several cats talking. They obviously didn't know that she was there, so she carefully laid low, and listened.

"What you did was reckless and idiotic!"

Rainbowheart could identify Foxflower's voice.

"We don't know what would have happened if I had not done what I did, Foxflower! If she stays, there is no telling what would transpire." It was Dewstar who spoke now.

"You didn't have to go this far, just because we can't see ahead of time. You didn't have to lead that poor cat to his death!"

"W-What did you say?" Those words. Rainbowheart hadn't been able to her mouth shut after hearing what Foxflower had just said. She didn't take her eyes off of the blue-grey tom.

"Dewstar… you…"

The ginger she-cat glanced at the black-and-white warrior for a few seconds, before hissing through her teeth. "I'm sorry, Rainbowheart, I tried to stop him."

The warrior continued glaring at Dewstar, ignoring Foxflower altogether. "You killed Spiritjump, you killed an innocent cat. You killed him! How could you?"

"I did it for…" The tom seemed agitated and at a loss for words. "For your clan's future," he spoke quietly, seemingly controlling himself from speaking further.

"My clan?" Rainbowheart scoffed at the words. She didn't believe it. Experience taught her that the old leader never did anything for just anyone other than his own clan.

"Please Rainbowheart, you must listen. There is darkness-"

"Shut up Foxflower. Just… shut up," the words slipped out of Rainbowheart's jaws with irritation, and anger. She turned on her paws then, keeping her back to the StarClan cats. After a moment of thinking, she began walking off.

"You're welcome to visit me Foxflower, and anyone else, but you, Dewstar, I better never see again."

She disappeared into the starry forest, going back to the spot that she had entered through. With a heavy heart, and thoughts, she curled up on the grass, and fell asleep. Silent yowls of sadness for a long-gone cat filled her mind.


	18. Chapter 18

When Rainbowheart opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the beautiful scenery of StarClan. The new light of day shone through the opening of the burrow, warming the ground in front of the warrior's nest. With a big yawn, she got up and stretched, and then proceeded to wake up the still snoozing Brick.

The injured tom stirred awake irritably, before realizing who it was that woke him up.

Seeing that he was up, Rainbowheart got out of her nest. "Come on, it's time to get up. The others should be here by now." Without another word, the she-cat gloomily walked and stood by the exit.

Brick looked at her for a second, before stretching, and padding after. He stopped next to her and, seeing that the she-cat hadn't acknowledged his presence, he touched his tail to her shoulder.

Rainbowheart jumped slightly, suddenly aware of the red tom.

Concerned for the warrior, Brick offered her words of encouragement. "You know, my mom, before she passed, always used to tell me that even when something bad happens, you should never give up. I don't know how things will go today but..."

The tom shook his head, looking the she-cat in the eyes. "I'll support whatever you end up doing."

Rainbowheart took a couple of seconds to take in what the tom had said, and then touched a paw to his shoulder in gratitude.

"Thanks Brick, that means a lot."

Once outside, both cats could see that there was quite an amount of activity going on, and it wasn't just between the trainees. Looking around the clearing, Rainbowheart could see that there were many cats from twolegplace.

It was then clearly noted that everyone seemed to be in some sort of heated argument.

"What's going on here?" Rainbowheart questioned, confusion in her eyes.

"Rainbowheart, Brick!"

Both cats turned to see Blair and Nutmeg running toward them. Nutmeg reached them before the black she-cat, and immediately started nuzzling Brick.

"Are you okay? We heard what happened. I'm sorry we couldn't have been here last night, for Chris' burial."

"Heh, I'm fine, just scratched up," Brick muttered, embarrassed.

Rainbowheart looked at Blair, who looked exhausted for some reason, "What's going on, why are all of these cats here?"

The blue-eye she-cat twitched her grey tipped tail angrily. "The Peace Reapers is what happened. They sent their punishers to give everyone a message. They told everyone that if you weren't driven away from here, then they'd start killing the younger cats. Now these flea-bags all want you gone from here, and to make matters worse, Bloodstorm sent some of his cats to make sure things went his way. Look, over there."

The black she-cat pointed with her tail to a small group of cats sitting by themselves.

Rainbowheart was surprised to see Gem and Bronze were in the group, along with Crack. "I recognize those three, but who are the others?" she asked.

Blair, seeing where the warrior was looking at, began naming the cats off. "Those two white cats, are punishers; the tom's name is Blizzard, and his sister is Blitz. The big she-cat sitting next to Crack is a guard; her name is Scream."

The she-cat shook her head, "Honestly, I think Bloodstorm went easy on us, by sending these ones."

Rainbowheart stared at the Peace Reapers for a bit before saying anything.

"No, I think he's trying to either break their spirit or test their loyalty. Either way, he's being cruel..."

She directed her attention to the throng of arguing cats, wanting to get the situation settled before it got completely out of hand.

"Please everyone, calm down, calm down." Around the clearing, the debating cats stopped to gaze over at Rainbowheart. "Now that I have your attention, how about we talk like civilized cats."

"You want to talk, alright then, we think that you've overstayed your welcome," an old kittypet tom yelled.

"Yeah, you being here has gotten us nowhere. You put our lives in jeopardy now," voiced a smoky colored loner.

Every cat around the clearing started joining in with voicing their concerns on her still being there.

Rainbowheart couldn't even get a word in, and was gazing around distraughtly. She shut her eyes tightly, the voices giving her a migraine.

"Shut up, all of you!" a voice boomed from a few fox-lengths away to Rainbowheart's left. Buck padded away from their group of friends, to stand next to the black-and-white cat.

"All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you'll remember, you were the ones that wanted the help when I said I'd try and find it. Out of all of you, only a handful even showed up to get training. Now you complain like kits!"

"Even if she does leave, will that really help us? Bloodstorm will still treat us the way he always has. He is a tyrant without a heart, and you are all so weak as to be sucked into his game. And you," Buck turned to glare at the small group of Peace Reapers who had come to observe, "You all make me sick. You were once good cats, but you allowed Bloodstorm to rule your hearts."

Bronze's eyes widened at Buck's statement, while Gem and Blitz looked away, ashamed. The other three stared at Buck and Rainbowheart with troubled looks etched on their faces.

"I thought I could help us take back our home if I found someone who could teach us. You're all _ungrateful _wretches. I should never have wasted my time trying to help those who can't help themselves." Buck fumed where he stood. Realization had finally hit him that fighting for such a lost cause was pointless.

These cats before him were worthless strays and soft-mouths.

Rainbowheart glanced at the ground for a moment, thinking before she addressed the cats, "I've thought about what all has been said here. I shall leave."

Before any of the cats could say anything, the warrior also added, "Not because you all could die, though, but because my friend's were threatened. Like Buck said, nothing is going to change." Her words darkened as her gaze did.

"If I leave with my friends, we will all live. You though, because of your cowardice, will still die by the claws of those who still threaten you."

Most of the cats were now staring with surprise at the black-and-white cat's ominous words.

"That is all," the warrior stated, flicking an ear and clearly dismissing the cats.

One by one, each of the cats who'd come to drive her off, left silently. All who were left, were the Peace Reapers, whom Raibowheart padded towards.

"Tell your leader that he got what he wanted, and that I won't be living here anymore. I'm not one to risk the lives of my cats like he is." She considered them for a moment, and then added in a soft voice, "You know, you really do seem like a good group of cats. It's a shame really, that you'd let scum take control of your will. I have to say, I'm disappointed in your abilities."

The she-cat guard, known as Scream, narrowed her eyes angrily, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rainbowheart shrugged, and turned away, "You should probably get back to your 'friends'. I'm sure they must be worried about you."

This caused the scarred she-cat to hiss angrily, and she probably would have leaped at Rainbowheart. Luckily, Crack stopped her.

"Scream, stop it, she's not worth the trouble," the large tom spoke in a soothing voice, which seemed to calm Scream down. "Come on, we have to go meet with Nightclaw now. Everyone will want to hear the… good news," he hesitated with the last part of his sentence. The members of his group nodded, and left without looking back.

"So… you really are going to leave?" Brick spoke first. The red-brown tom had expected as such.

The black and white warrior padded over, and sat in front of him, "I can't stay if they don't want me here, and Bloodstorm has already threatened to kill all of you if I don't. I'm not going to risk your lives. There was no reason for me to be here in the first place. Those cats just gave me more of a reason to leave quicker."

"Who cares what those mouse-brains think. They never could take care of themselves anyway. I wanted my home back though, we all did. There's only one way to get it back, and they just turned their backs on what they wanted and needed."

There was fury in Buck's voice, something he could easily show when it came to his passion for fighting for what was right. This was one thing that Rainbowheart liked about the tom, but also found extremely irritating. He had a kind and strong attitude, and he stuck up for what he thought was the right thing to do. The downside was that he hardly thought of others' thoughts.

Rainbowheart grimaced and shook her head, "Like you said, they're scared. They can't be helped because of that. It's pointless." Remorsefully, she looked around at everyone, "That said, I think that it's about time that you all went back to your homes. I'm not going to let any more of you die like Spiritjump did."

Silence grew between the cats, before it was broken by Brick. "I wish you'd acknowledge I was at fault too. You know, I could barely fall asleep because of what kept replaying in my mind. I should have kept watch when we had stopped in that bush, or I should have fought harder so that they would choose to have killed me instead..."

Nutmeg, who had been sitting next to the red-brown tom, began to lick his ears comfortingly. "It wasn't anyone's fault, except that blood-thirsty beast of a cat."

The others around them murmured in agreement.

Brick shook his head lightly with his eyes still distant and trained on the ground, "It was the worst thing I've ever witnessed. To be unable to do anything about it. I'm sure we all feel that way, Rainbowheart, not just you."

He glanced up, and seemed to be staring through Rainbowheart with sadness. "I understand why you need to leave, because you want to protect the rest of us. Please don't look at us though and think you're the only one who has been touched by what happened to Spiritjump."

Steadily Brick breathed in and out. He then gazed at the ground once more. "You're going to leave us behind, leave us to defend ourselves. I know you know we can defend ourselves. That's why you're not worried about leaving us, right?"

The tom didn't wait for an answer as he kept going. His claws dug into the soil, his head shaking.

"Well I swear by my claws that I will continue to fight, and not be one of those cowards. I swear on Spiritjump's grave, I won't give up." Brick stood up, not looking at the black-and-white cat. "This is goodbye, so…"

Before he could say more, Brick bolted away, heading back for the twolegplace. He didn't look back.

"Brick!" Buck and several of the others yelled after him, but the tom kept running, and disappeared into the forest.

Nutmeg and Suzie soon broke away from the others and ran in the direction that the red tom was sure to be.

"We'll go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything drastic," called Nutmeg.

Once they were out of sight, all eyes were back on Rainbowheart.

Cliff, who had been silent through the whole thing, finally padded up to the black-and-white warrior. "I suppose that since you are leaving, you will be on your way to make that clan you were talking about?"

Rainbowheart nodded, her expression unreadable.

The light brown tom stared at her for a second, before closing his eyes, deep in thought. A moment later he opened his eyes up a small smile plastered on his face. "Well in that case, I'm coming with you."

The red-eyed warrior looked at the tom with a surprised expression, "But what about your home?"

"What home? It doesn't matter what Brick says, as far as I know, that place isn't home anymore. Even if we stay, Bloodstorm will send his cats to terrorize us, maybe even kill us," Cliff was silent as he let his words sink into everyone's thoughts, before he went on.

"I think I'd rather leave with cats I know, than go to a different place that could cause me more problems. Besides if I go with you, I'll get more training done which will give me the chance to get back at those rat-faces if I decide to come back." Seemed simple enough of a plan to him.

The tom gave a pleading look, "Please allow me to go with you and to become a part of your clan. Even if it's just for a little while" He dipped his head low. "I swear that I will work hard to become a great warrior in Spiritjump's honor."

Rainbowheart blinked, considering the tom for a second, admiring his willingness to leave his home, so that he could become stronger in someone else's name.

"If you are willing to go, then I guess I will go also."

Everyone's eyes turned to stare at Buck. The big tom returned their gaze with confidence, and then went back to looking at Rainbowheart. He licked the bottom teeth that stuck out of his mouth, before speaking,

"I… I now realize… how dumb I was being before, with asking you to help us. I agree with Cliff; home isn't home anymore. I wanted to help, but," Buck sighed, "I think it's time for me to just move on, and let someone else bother with those mouse-brains."

The brown cat turned to glance over at the others, "I also agree that by going with Rainbowheart, we will get more training done. And _if _those mouse-hearts come to us for help again and _if _we actually feel generous enough to lend our services, we'll be ready. So," Buck turned fully to face the others, his back to Rainbowheart, "who's with me?"

The rest of the cats stared wide-eyed at Buck for a moment, then looked over at the proud looking Cliff. Each cat looked around at another, questioning what they should do. Silence ensued for a short amount of time, but it seemed like moons.

Finally the silence broke, when Meera accompanied by Apple, separated from the group to stand in front of their friend and foster sibling.

"You know very well that wherever you go, we go too," the grey she-cat stated. She then gave a crooked smile, "Might be fun anyway. We haven't lived together in a large group for a while since we left our group. I'm guessing we have to take orders from Patchy over there though- the only downside."

The remark caused Rainbowheart to frown. She'd probably never be used to Meera's sharp, joking insults.

Apple gave a grimace, "And we won't have to deal with that heartless excuse for a living creature. I'd rather try my luck with surviving out in the forest than go back to trying to survive off of the measly scraps of food we get to eat."

Both cats dipped their head, not waiting for Rainbowheart to respond, and then went to sit beside Cliff. Buck gazed at his lifelong companions with happiness, and then turned back to the rest of the group, "Is that it?"

After another long moment passed, again, another set of paws stepped away. Hampton padded forward, going passed Buck and placing himself in front of Rainbowheart. The grey tom stared straight into the warrior's eyes, before dipping his head, and then going to sit with the others. He was soon followed by Spike, who made no comment, or gesture, and simply sat next to him. **(way to ruin the repetition Spike)**

"We'll go too. The last moments I spent talking with… Well, let's just say I think I'd like to find out if a few points were right. I think it'd be nice making some other young cats beside my daughter, slave away taking care of me anyway," Rockslide stated with a laugh.

"I shall also join you all," Star said with a straight face. "After all, you need someone to help look after you all if you get injured."

Jewel, Blair, and Chilly were now the only ones left standing, that hadn't agreed to join. Everyone knew why; they were kittypets. They wouldn't be able to leave behind their old life. Even though Nutmeg and Suzie weren't there at the moment, they too, would have answered with silence.

Rainbowheart stepped forward, and addressed the remaining cats, who wore sorry expressions.

"You do not need to feel bad about your decision. We all know you aren't like the rest of them. You aren't weak-minded or weak-hearted." The warrior gave a warm smile, "You're always welcome to visit us though." Wherever that may be, she didn't quite know.

She turned to the others now, and gave a thoughtful expression. "You all amaze me, and though I know your stay might be temporary, I'm still glad I can get to know you all during a time that doesn't involve getting you ready to go to war."

It really was relieving to not be pressured and involved in such a thing anymore.

"I think that now it is time that we take our leave."

Jewel padded forward to Rainbowheart, and touched noses with her. "I'm sorry that we cannot come with you, but it is not for the reason that you may think."

"If it weren't for the others, we would definitely come with you," stated Blair.

"Nutmeg and Suzie wouldn't be able to make out in the forest though," Chilly added, remorsefully. "We have to look after them, and make sure that they remain safe from the Peace Reapers."

Jewel joined the other two kittypets near the edge of the clearing, ready to leave. She gave Rainbowheart an appreciative glance, "Thank you for trying to help. I know you didn't really want to at first, but we're glad you stayed. We'll tell Brick you all said bye. Good luck."

Taking the lead, she padded away, with Blair and Chilly following.

Behind her, Rainbowheart thought that she heard Hampton sigh heavily, and Cliff chuckle.

"Don't be so sad Hampton. There are many more pelts out there to choose from. Although, I guess not all of them can have such a fiery personality like Jewel's."

Rainbowheart turned around just in time to see Hampton swipe his paws at Cliff.

"What are you talking about?" The grey tom took another few swipes at his friend, before Rainbowheart broke it up.

"We still have some time before we leave. I say we put it to good use. There's no telling where we'll end up, and it would probably be good to travel with full bellies," Rainbowheart stated.

"Hampton, Hazel, Streak, and Buck, will come with me."

The cats chosen for the hunting party joined Rainbowheart, and they headed in the opposite direction, away from the twolegplace.


	19. Chapter 19

"Rainbowheart." Jade approached the black-and-white warrior who had just finished off a sparrow.

Everyone else had eaten and it was now time to leave.

"Yes Jade, what is it?" Rainbowheart looked up at the white cat.

"Well, since we are all a clan now, before we leave, the kits and I were wondering if they could get their apprentice names before we leave." Jade gave her new leader a curious look.

A few fox-lengths behind Jade, the kits were sitting, staring expectantly over in their mother's direction. It was obvious they'd asked their mother to ask Rainbowheart about them becoming apprentices.

Rainbowheart knew that the kits were due for their ceremony she had promised, but she also had a few other things that she also wanted to do. Right now would be a good a time as any to get them all out of the way.

"Before we leave, I'd like to address a few things. Please everyone gather around the stump," she called to the rest of the cats. As they were asked, the cats gathered in front of their leader who now sat on the stump.

"First, I'd like to say again, how happy I am that you all will be joining me. Second, I'd like to give some of you warrior names, if that's okay? You can have one or not, it doesn't matter."

Rainbowheart gave them all a cheerful smile, as they talked happily among themselves for a moment.

"You better make these names cool, Patchy," Merra said, tail twitching with the remark. "Don't give us something like Sleeps-All-Day, even though I'm sure Cliff here deserves that name."

"I do _not _sleep all day."

"Cliff, yeah you do."

"I didn't ask you Hampton."

Clearing her throat, Rainbowheart got everyone's attention, "Okay, OKAY. Nobody will get ridiculous names like that. I don't even think there's been such a ridiculous name like Sleeps-All-Day…"

"What about Snoozebutt?"

"Or Snoringloud?"

"I sleep as much as the next cat does guys!"

"Quiet everyone! I will first begin with Streak and Jade. Both of you please step forward."

As instructed, the pair of sisters broke away from the group, standing closer to their red-eyed leader.

As they were pressed for time, Rainbowheart decided to skip over some parts and get straight to the point. "Jade and Streak, do you swear to live by our own code,to protect your clan, friends, and your family, even at the cost of your own life?"

"We swear," said both she-cats.

"Then as leader of this clan, I Rainbowheart, proudly accept you as warriors. From this moment on, Streak, you shall be known as Streakflight. Jade, from now on, you shall be known as Jadeheaven."

The she-cats each touched noses to Rainbowheart's.

Both new warriors sat proudly, with their chests puffed out, as their clanmates cheered their warrior names. "Streakflight, Jadeheaven! Streakflight, Jadeheaven!"

Rainbowheart waited for the voices to die down, before continuing, and whispered quick commands to her two warriors. As it got quieter, Streakflight and Jadeheaven pulled the kits aside, to sit apart from the much older cats.

"Now it is time for the rest of you. Do you all swear to live by our own warrior code, and if not, then do you at least swear to protect your clan, friends, and your family even at the cost of your own life?"

It was a rumble of jumbled voices, as each and every cat there agreed.

"Then I, Rainbowheart, proudly accept you all as warriors.. Please come up as I call your names," the clan leader requested.

"Buck, Meera, and Apple."

All three cats padded forward, to gaze up into their leader's eyes.

"From this moment on, Buck, you shall be known as Lockjaw. Meera, you shall be known as Spiralfoot. And Apple, you shall be known as Applewhisker."

After all three of them had touched noses with the she-cat, the joined Streakflight and Jadeheaven.

Spiralfoot looked at Lockjaw, smirking.

"Don't even think about commenting." Buck flicked his tail across her head, before paying attention to the ceremony.

"Hampton, Cliff, Spike, and Hazel," Rainbowheart called off, and they gathered below her. "Hampton, you shall be known as Hawktooth. Cliff, you will be known as Cliffbreeze. Spike, you will be known as Wildfur. And Hazel, you shall be known as Hazelsky."

There were only three cats left now. "Rockslide and Shell."

Both old cats sat in front of the younger cat, looking up expectantly.

"You both have past your prime, and I can't exactly give you warrior names. You'll be elders instead? Sharing your wisdom and stories would be quite helpful to the younger of us."

Rockslide shrugged his shoulders, "Either way I was gonna get one of you young ones to clean the fleas out of my pelt." Shell pushed him with her shoulder, and Rockslide gave the white cat a humor-filled huff.

Rainbowheart smiled, "Then I hope that both you both will live happy lives as elders."

Both old cats dipped their heads and sat with the others.

"Star, please come forward," Rainbowheart looked down at the mismatched eyes of the blue-grey she-cat. "In every clan, there must be one who can take on the challenge of keeping its cats healthy. I never mentioned this one, but Star, I give you the position of medicine cat, and your warrior name, Northwind."

Rainbowheart then added, "And until she has learned all that you have to teach, Streakflight shall be your apprentice." Although Rainbowheart had originally intended Streakflight to be the deputy, it was clear she wasn't going to be the one.

Northwind dipped her head to her leader, before finding Streak and touching noses with her.

Rainbowheart looked at her new warriors with pride and satisfaction. She was not done however, with the ceremonies. There were still two that were left. "Before we all celebrate, with our leave, Jadeheaven, please step forward once more."

The white she-cat looked at Rainbowheart curiously, but padded up to once again, gaze into her leader's unusual eyes.

"I can't have a clan without a second-in-command." The leader jumped down from her perch on the stump to touch her tail to the white cat's shoulder. "Jadeheaven, I name you deputy of this clan."

Jadeheaven was wide-eyed at what her leader had just said. "I-I don't know what to say- you would pick me, to be your deputy?" She honestly couldn't believe that she would be chosen as deputy.

"You said you wanted to repay me for saving your life, before. I hope you will do so by helping me from your position. You're wise, and know when to not let emotion control you. I need a calm and collected cat to help me," Rainbowheart said, tilting her head.

The white she-cat's expression turned to one of gratitude for the chance. "Thank you, I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Rainbowheart said. It was then she addressed the last issue.

"There is but one more thing that must be attended to now. Sparrow and Topaz."

At the sound of their names, the kits' eyes brightened. They gave excited mewls, which were quieted by their mother when they bounded over.

"Sparrow and Topaz, until the day comes that you receive your warrior names, you shall be known as Sparrowpaw and Topazpaw. As for mentors, I will train Topazpaw and Jadeheaven shall train Sparrowpaw."

When she finished saying this, Rainbowheart touched noses with her golden-furred apprentice. Seeing this, Jadeheaven and Sparrowpaw did the same. Everyone called out their names with great vigor, causing the young cats to burst with immense pride.

"Sparrowpaw, Topazpaw!"

Above the cats, the sky was already almost fully dark.

"Come along everyone. It's time that we take our leave." Rainbowheart scooted Topazpaw along to the edge of the clearing, where the others had gathered. They would be heading in the opposite direction of the twolegplace, where Hawktooth had reported the river was.

Topazpaw looked back at the clearing, and then looked up at his mentor, "Will we ever come back here?"

Rainbowheart's was thoughtful before answering, "Maybe. If we are needed, and if others are willing to help themselves next time." She turned around to stare at the dark abyss of shadowy woods that lay in front of them. She signaled her clan with her tail, "Let's move."

They all disappeared into the cool night.

The clearing was left in silence. Nothing, save for crickets, made a sound.

In the shadows, on the other side of the clearing, a red-brown tom slinked into the open area. He gazed longingly at where the group of cats once stood. Desperately he wanted to go with them, but he knew that he could do more if he stayed.

"Good luck to you all. Spiritjump, please watch over our friends," he whispered, before heading back into the brush.


End file.
